New Beginnings
by marseelee
Summary: Fang is the new kid on the block, and Max can't help but get pulled into his personality. But when Max's ex-boyfriend shows up and thinks he can get her back, her life takes a turn for the worse. Major Fax. Rated T for language and violence. All Human.
1. The Neighbors

"Maximum!"

I sigh. I can't enjoy just one day of peacefulness can I? Nope. I put away my paints reluctantly and walked downstairs, seeing Iggy, my fraternal twin brother on the way down.

"Good luck", he mumbles. I sigh again. I just can't wait to see what my _wonderful_ mother has in store for me today. Note the sarcasm. My mother and I have always had a problem with each other. I really don't know why, but she always seems to love to annoy me and she never supports what I do, no matter what. Of course, she would always be there when Iggy has had some kind of school event or something like that, but never for me, and it's sort of been pissing me off.

I walk down the stairs, seeing my mom, and she comes over to place a big plate of chocolate chip cookies in my hands. "What's this?" I ask happily, naively thinking it's for me. Hey what can I tell you? I love them!

"Relax, they're not for you", she says harshly, completely bursting my happy bubble. "Go take them next door, we have new neighbors." Ugh.

"Why can't Iggy go with me?" I whine. It's so unfair that I have to do that without Iggy suffering too.

She gives me that don't-argue-with-me look. You all know the one. "Iggy is very busy working on his homework." Just as she says this, I hear and electronic voice scream, "_Finish him_!" Yep. Sounds like homework to me.

I roll my eyes and walk down our huge driveway and step onto the neighbor's. We live in Dallas, TX, and before you ask, no we don't live on farms, we don't have redneck accents, and I have never once and probably never will ride a horse. Sorry if you were expecting something else.

So I look at the house with the large moving van in front of it, and just hope it's not someone annoying that's moving next to us. Their house is very pretty with brown brick and gray stone around it. It's a two-story and it has a big porch. I walk to their front door and knock. Suddenly, just as I hear my ringtone go off ˗˗She's a Lady by Forever the Sickest Kids˗˗, the door opens, and someone steps on the porch, and I guess they stare at me while I fumble with my phone.

I quickly turn off my phone and look at a boy around my age, who is surprisingly good looking. He is wearing a muscle shirt, thanks to the moving, and you can kind of see his ab muscles right through his shirt. I look at his face and realize I'm majorly staring. Oops.

"Um. . . Hi", I say.

"Hey," he says quietly. Awkward.

"Uh, I live next door" pointing towards my house, "and my mom just wanted to give you guys these to welcome you to the neighborhood, I guess", I say, uncomfortably looking down frequently.

"Oh okay, thanks," he says, taking the cookies with subtle appreciation.

"Uh alright, I'll see you later then," I say, stepping off of his porch.

"Hey" I turn around, and he goes, "Nice ringtone."

I smile, surprised. "Thanks." I say, and walk home. I wondered what that was about. Maybe I would get along with the new neighbors, after all.

**_EDIT, May 5, 2011_: So, if you're new to reading this, please know that this chapter is crap in my opinion. Please consider reading on, because I just recently re-read my whole story, so I actually wrote this about a year ago. My writing has surprisingly gotten better, so take that into consideration before you click the "back" button. :) Lol. **


	2. The Ex

**So I have decided to keep writing this story. Hopefully y'all will like it! :) So here's some info you guys might need to know. Max, Iggy, and Fang are all 16. Nudge is 15, Gazzy is 8, and angel is 7. I kind of like the ages that way. Oh and Ella is 15. Iggy can see.**

When I'm home, finishing my painting of a sunset, I remember that I had turned off my phone. I turn it back on, then I get a text from my ex boyfriend Sam. He moved about 8 months ago. Before he moved, we had been going out for 4 months. But right before he left, I found out that he had been cheating on me for two months. Two. I was pretty devastated, always thinking we were the cutest couple, but of course that had to be ruined, along with pretty much everything else in my life. That day he left, he had told me that he still loved me and we could have a long-distance relationship, but there is no way in hell that I am gonna stay going out with someone who had just cheated on me . I was tired of him, anyway. But luckily, my three best friends, JJ, Nudge, and Ella, were there for me after the break up. They are the best friends anyone could ever have. I could always count on them. (I'm starting to sound like Nudge! I'll stop.) So anyway, back to the text.

_I miss you. Why didn't you answer my phone call?_ It says. Are you kidding me? See this is exactly why I didn't want him anymore. He was so freaking possessive and controlling, and I _really_ don't like people like that. Then I remember that the phone call was when I was talking to the boy next door. Hmm. I forgot to ask his name. I guess I'll see him tomorrow at school, though.

I end up not even answering Sam back. He was just so annoying sometimes.

_

* * *

I wake up the next morning to pounding on my door. "Max! You better get up right now or I'm gonna bust down this door, and you will regret it!" That was mom for ya. "Arghhhhh!" I manage, before I slipped into the bathroom, and taking a quick shower. When I'm done, I blow dry my hair and put it into a messy pony tail. I slip on some skinny jeans and a t-shirt that says _I'm the person your mother warned you about. _I thought it was pretty awesome, myself.

When I get to the kitchen, I see mom look disapprovingly at my t-shirt. I smirk at her, and go to get some cereal.

"Max." Uh-oh. I know _that _tone. "Yes, _mother dearest_?" I ask innocently. "I really don't like that shirt you have on."she says.

"Well I don't care what you think, mother", I say with mucho attitude. I mean seriously? She's freaking over something like this? It's not like I'm the spawn of satin or something. She then goes on a rant about disobeying your parents for about 10 minutes. I see Iggy come in at about minute six and he shoots me a sympathetic look from where he is getting orange juice.

"MOM!" I shout interrupting her, and she looks at me angrily. "I don't care what you have to say! I'm never gonna listen to whatever you say anyway!" I then get up to leave for school calling over my shoulder, "Come on Igs, we're gonna be late."

When we're outside, I hear Iggy say, "You didn't have to go off on her like that."

I turn around, ready to smack the crap out of him. "Excuse me?" I shout. He puts his arms up defensively, probably instantly regretting his words. "Do you even know what that was about? She was saying all of that because of my shirt!"

"Well Max, just give her a break. You know she's been really high strong, ever since dad left."

"I guess." Jeb, our dad ran out on us about 8 months ago. Or at least he might have. He worked for this super secret lab that was run by the government. Anything could have happened to him. Personally, I just think he left. We were never really that close, thanks to his job, that constantly had him going out of the country for what, I have no clue. But Iggy and obviously mom were very close to him.

I heard a throat being cleared, about 10 feet away, and I jump. I look over, and there is the boy from yesterday and 2 other kids there. I get worried and hope they didn't hear what we were fighting about.

"Hey" , I say uncomfortably. He looks at me and says, "Hi. Um, sorry to interrupt, but where's the bus stop around here?"

Iggy steps forward and says, "Oh we're on our way there right now, we can show you. We're Iggy and Max ride." I wave.

"Fang," pointing to himself, "Gazzy, and Angel Collins," pointing to them each. They both give little shy waves.

"We better go to the bus stop before we're late." I say. I lead them to our bus stop, and just stand there thinking about my semi-fight with Iggy. I hope we aren't drifting apart, like with my mom.

"What's up?" I hear, and I turn around seeing Fang. He was wearing a black t shirt with some black skinny jeans. This kid likes black.

"What's it to you?" I ask. He smirks. Really? I'm already in a bad mood. I thought we were supposed to get along. But what was I thinking? I thought that we were gonna hit it off just because he likes my music? I'm living in a dream world.

"I was just gonna ask about our school."

"Oh, well it's cool I guess, besides the occasional slut or douche bag jock." I say.

He looks at me. His hair kinda shines in the sunlight and I can see his black eyes look at me, amused. "Am I sensing some bitterness?" He asks.

"Ha-ha." I say sarcastically. "No. I just really don't like sluts or douche bag jocks."

He looks at me thoughtfully. "Me neither."

Just then, we see the bus pull up, and when I see him turn around to board onto the bus, I see the shirt he is wearing and it has a school name and a football number on it. With the last name Collins above the number. Wow. How ironic.

**Yeah I know that last part was kind of lame, but whatever. I'll update whenever I can :) Peace out.**


	3. Drama on the horizon?

** Hey guys, I've been lovin' all this good feed back. Keep it comin :]**

Marington High School is made up of about 2,540 kids. Well, now I guess 2,541 kids. The middle school and elementary schools are right next to it. It's a pretty good school, I guess. Most of the teachers are decent, depending on who you get.

I was explaining this to Fang on our way to the school. I had finally gotten over my bad mood and just decided I might as well talk to him, before he starts to annoy me.

"Can you show me the way to the office, then?" Fang asks as we're stepping off the bus. Angel and Gazzy had gotten off on their stop at the elementary schools.

"Yeah, sure I guess", I say. We still had fifteen minutes till the warning bell rang, anyway, and I didn't have to go to my locker. We said bye to Iggy and then left. As we walk inside the school, there are definitely people doing that trying-to-be-nonchalant-staring thing. You all know what I'm talking about. And it ends up being way more noticeable than actually just looking over casually. I guess these people like the new kid. Or maybe they're just surprised that I'm walking with someone other than my brother, that's a boy.

I hear Fang clear his throat next to me. "What's with this school?" I hear him ask. I laugh.

"What? Shouldn't you be used to this?" I say, looking pointedly at his old football jersey.

"Oh, this?" He points to it. I make a _duh_ face, and he rolls his eyes. "This is my cousin's jersey. I had nothing to wear so I just stole this from him." _Fail. _At my dumbfounded expression, he looks amused.

"What? You thought I was some 'douche bag jock'?" making quotes with his fingers.

"Well now, you're just not the jock." I laugh. He rolls his eyes again.

Before we step inside the office, I see two of my best friends, Nudge and Ella, and they're about to come over, but apparently they see that I'm not entirely alone. They stop and stare at us and Nudge whispers something in Ella's ear, and they both burst into unexpected giggles. I make a 'WTH' face at them, but they just laugh harder.

I look over at Fang, and he had been watching our exchange with amusement in his eyes.

"Well, I'll just leave you here in the office then", I say, with a half smile, and walk towards Ella and Nudge.

"What the heck was that all about?" I ask. They're just getting over their last giggle when Nudge starts on one of her famous rampages.

"Oh, my gosh, Max! Who the heck was that guy you were just walking with? He is so freaking hot! And then y'all were like walking side by side and you looked so awesome together! You guys would make the cutest couple, ever! Where is he? Are we gonna meet him? Are y'all friends or something? Come on, Max I wanna—"

A hand comes from behind her and slaps her mouth closed.

"It's so early in the morning and Nudge is already talking up a storm? Gosh what did you have for breakfast?" Iggy says.

When Iggy's hand leaves her face, I can see a blush creeping up her cheeks. I smirk at her from behind Iggy and she blushes harder.

"Hey Iggy", Ella mutters. She looks at me, seeming to have seen Nudge and I's exchange and looks down at the floor. I thought I saw jealousy flash in her eyes. Oh no. Please no drama. Nudge and Ella have been known to have fights in the past, but never about a boy. And especially _not_ about my brother.

It gets a little awkward, so when I see Fang start walking away from the office, I immediately run up to him and go, "Hey Fang, want to meet a couple of my friends?"

"Uh, sure." I take him to our little group and say, "Guys this is Fang. He's new." He sorta waves at everyone, and Nudge is about to begin a rant when I send her a warning look. I don't want her scaring away the new kid just yet. Ha.

All of the sudden, J.J. comes out of nowhere, panting with books stacked to her chin. "Oh man, I need to go study, like right now. I have a test in fifth, sixth, and seventh today. Ugh!" Yep, that's J.J. The most girlish nerd I know. She's the one we go to if we need help academically. As you can see.

"J.J. Calm down. You studied for those last night and you had no trouble." I say. "Oh and this is Fang, the new kid. Oh and guys. Don't worry about his jersey. He's not really a douche bag jock." Fang sends me a look and I laugh. Everyone else just looks at me weird. Well, whatever.

J.J. says hi to Fang and then dashes off to the library. The bell rings and I look at Fang's schedule, only to find that he has 4 classes with me, including the one right now. We'll see how this goes.

Our first class together is History. Iggy's in the same class. When we walk in altogether, I see a pair of annoying, green eyes look up from her desk. That would be Bridget. Class A slut. She always seems like she's out to get me, even when I didn't do anything to her in the first place. Therefore, I retaliate when she says something. It hasn't gone so far as a fight, but it could if she does something stupid on her part. Lord knows I could kick her beat her up so bad. And she knows that too.

She runs up as fast as she can, and sorta sticks her chest out. You all know the move. "Hey Maxie, who's this?" Looking directly at Fang. Wow. Not a good idea. Iggy snorts from behind me.

"Um, excuse me, Dwyer? What did you just call me?" I glare at her.

She looks startled at me for a few seconds, then quickly composes herself and puts her eyes back on Fang. "What's your name?" she asks in a 'seductive' voice. Ew.

I brush past them, letting Fang make his decision. Iggy and I sit in our desks. I look over and Fang looks back at me, uncomfortable. Now that I left, she's gone full-blown slut. Ha ha. I send Fang a sympathetic look and mouth 'poor Fangy' at him and me and Iggy laugh.

"I don't hang out with sluts. Sorry." She looks at him, completely pissed. And then he comes and sits with us. Iggy and I are laughing so hard, we have tears in our eyes.

In 3rd period, I get a text from Sam again. It says _Max. How come you haven't texted me back? I have to tell you something._ I sighed aloud, and I see Fang look over from where the teacher sat him, right next to me. He has question in his eyes, and I just shake my head. I figure that if I'm going to get Sam to leave me alone, I'm gonna have to answer his text.

_What do you want, Sam? This is getting really annoying._

He answers back 10 seconds later. _I have a surprise for you._ He completely ignores my annoyance in my last text.

_What?_ I say.

_I'm coming back home. _Oh, joy.

**Hope ya liked it! Okay I've decided I'm gonna update when I get around 20 or 25 reviews. So if ya want the next chapter, you know what to do. . .**


	4. Oh, Brother

**Hey guys, so I got 15 reviews so far. I think I've decided that 20 to 25 reviews are kind of out of my league right now. Ha. So here's the next chapter and NOW let's get me 20-25 reviews.**

_He answers back 10 seconds later. _I have a surprise for you._ He completely ignores my annoyance in my last text._

What?_ I say._

I'm coming back home_. Oh, joy._

So all of the sudden, while processing this information, my breath had comes in me in a big_ whoosh, _sort of like a gasp but a little bit quieter, and I ended up coughing uncontrollably on my spit. Fml. Of course, this has to get the attention of everyone in class, including Fang, who has a worried expression on his face. Once I get over this little fit of mine, I clear my throat and say, "Um sorry just continue", to the teacher. He turns back to his board.

I look at Fang and I realize I'm still holding my phone and he's looking at it pointedly. 'What was that all about?' He mouths at me. I just shake my head.

Sam is coming back. My ex. My stupid, controlling, and cheating ex. What did this even mean? _I'm coming back home._ Did that mean just for a visit? I hoped. But something in the back of my mind is telling me that I'm wrong. I was pissed. Completely pissed. Why is he doing this? Even d espite his still clinginess, I've managed to get over him. But no. It's like he knows that I'm about to move on, and so he tries to ruin it.

But I'm not gonna let him. Not this time. I may have been this stupid, head-over-heels teenage girl in love back then, but not now. Back then, I used to be almost obsessed with him. I lived and breathed Sam. My friends hated it of course. How could they not, really? But he had just been so controlling. He had even gotten violent at one point. I never told anyone before, though. It was only once and I didn't think it would happen again. But I was naive when that was happening.

This experience has made me stronger. And I'm not going to let him get me down. I don't care what he does. Although I'm having this amazing little pep talk in my mind, it still isn't helping my mood. Which is making me even madder.

I'm too mad to answer his text. I'll deal with it later.

When the bell rings for lunch, Fang and I start walking to the cafeteria. I think he notices I'm pissed because he keeps silent. When we get to the cafeteria, I say shortly, "You can sit with us, if you want." He nods warily, probably wondering what my problem was.

I lead him over to our table, and sit. I'm too worked up to eat. The whole gang is here. Iggy, Nudge, Ella, J.J., and sometimes Dylan and Ian sit with us. They're here now. Everyone looks up and greets us happily, oblivious to my mood. I look over to Dylan and Ian and say, "This is Fang. Fang, this is Ian and Dylan." I sit.

After about ten minutes, I'm thinking about ways to kill Sam without getting caught, and someone finally realizes my not-so-delightful mood. Iggy lightly taps my shoulder.

"What's wrong, Max? I haven't heard anything sarcastic come out of your mouth since you've been in here." He says. He always knows when something's up. I guess it's a twin thing.

"Yeah, she's been like that since earlier in class." Fang spoke up. He hadn't really talked unless someone asked him a direct question.

I sigh. "I have some news, you guys." That pretty much gets everyone's attention. They look at me worriedly. "You all remember Sam, right?" I feel Iggy stiffen beside me. He had seen what happened to me when Sam did what he did.

Nudge chose this time to speak up. "Oh my gosh, Max! Sam? THE Sam? He was the worst! What about him? I can't believe you actually still talk to that stupid guy, after what he did to you! Ugh. Why can't he just go—" I'm sick of her rant, especially when it involves Sam, so I stand up and put my hand over her mouth. By the look on my face, she can tell I mean business.

I sit back in my chair and begin again. "Well he texted me, and he said he's coming back home." They look at me and the girls all gasp and the guys look mad.

"What? I'm gonna kick his ass! After everything he did to you, he decides to just come back and be the happy-go-lucky Sam everybody loved? I don't think so!" Iggy explodes. We all look at him with shocked expressions. Iggy is never like this. He's usually the goofy one in our group. He's gone into over protective brother mode. Sigh.

"Relax Iggy, that was 8 months ago. It's fine. He can do whatever he wants." My words are a lie. I didn't think it was fine. But you already know that, don't you?

"Wait, who's this Sam guy?" Fang asks. We all look at him, realizing that he was still here. Oh, yeah. New kid.

I sigh. "He's my ex boyfriend, Fang. He had been cheating on me for two months, and I found out the day before he moved out of state."

Fang looks at me with eyes of concern at first, but then it changes to an almost rage. This surprises me greatly. I just met him yesterday and he already seems to sort of care about me.

"How long is he coming back?" Ella asks.

"I'm not sure. I haven't even answered his text from this morning." I say.

Iggy looks even more mad and goes, "Well he better not be staying permanently, cause I'll make his life a living hell."

"Guys, just ignore him. We've both gotten over our relationship, so it doesn't even matter anymore. I'm serious", looking at Iggy the whole time. I know he wants do something when Sam gets here. Most likely violence. I don't want him to get in a fight because of me, especially when this whole ordeal happened a while back.

He sighs, looking at me, and then says, "Alright fine, Max we won't do anything." I look at Dylan, Ian, and even Fang because I can still see a little bit of rage in them. They all nod. I think I felt reassured. Now I just have to prepare myself, mentally for when he comes back.

* * *

The rest of the school day goes by uneventful. I think Fang fits in well with our group. He seemed to get along with all of us. My mood got better throughout the day. I realized that all I have to do when, and if (I still don't know if it'll be a permanent stay), Sam gets here is just ignore him. There's not much I can do, anyway.

As I'm stepping off the bus behind Iggy, I feel something brush past my shoulder. I look up and it's Fang. I smile at him, and he smiles back. My breath catches in my throat. I just realize now, that this kid doesn't really smile all that much. Or talks. Although this morning he was a little talkative, he didn't really talk all that much today. To me, or anyone else, really.

"Wanna go on a walk?"He asks all of the sudden.

"Sure, I guess." I tell Iggy I'll be home in a little bit, and we just walk around our neighborhood.

We're walking in comfortable silence for about five minutes, when he breaks it.

"So. . . Are you okay?" I look at him, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

He chuckles a bit. "Sam." Oh. Duh.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. I've been over him for a long time now, actually. I was just surprised that he was coming back after all this time." I say. It was true, for the most part.

"Yeah, I understand. How long were you guys going out, anyway?"I look up at him.

"About four months."

"Were y'all really serious?" Hmm. I wonder where this is going.

"Uh. I guess you could say that. . ." I look up at him. He's probably about four inches taller than me, even with me at five foot, nine. It gets quiet, sort of an awkward silence because we were talking about my ex boyfriend. At this point, we were across the street from our houses, just standing there. But when he looks down at me, all of the awkwardness goes away. He looks thoughtful, but it turns to an intense look.

"I can't believe someone could do that to you. I can't _imagine_. . ." He trails off, still looking at me with the same look.

I'm looking into his deep, black eyes, when I suddenly realize how close we are. His nose is just about to touch mine. Whoa. This is getting a little weird, even for me. I pull back, surprised. There's a blush creeping up my cheeks. What the heck? I never blush. Not even when I was this close to Sam, back in the day. Then I realize how impossibly clique this is. How many books and movies has this almost exact scene been in? That's my life for ya. I clear my throat.

"Sorry", he mutters, looking down at the ground with his hand on his neck.

"Oh, um, no it's okay, I think I'll just be going home now. See you." I kind of walk at a fast pace into my house, without looking back at Fang. What just happened?

I walk inside my house, thankful that mom works today. I didn't really want any arguing going on right now. And I didn't want to upset Iggy, either.

I walk in the living room and Iggy looks at me from the TV and smirks.

"Can I _help_ you?"I say sarcastically, getting my homework out of my backpack to work on before mom gets home.

"Well actually, I just saw you and a _certain someone_ across the street just now."He points to the window and there is the exact spot we were standing at, clear as day. I am so stupid. One of the biggest windows on our house is directly across from where we were!

I feel my blush coming back, and he bursts out laughing. Ugh. Brothers.

**So just a tiny bit of Fax in there for ya. I'll update later once I do get 20-25 reviews, for REAL this time!**


	5. Distractions

**Hey guys here's the next chapter. **

It's 10:30 p.m. and I decide to text Sam back. I needed more details.

_Sam. What were you saying earlier today?_ I go in with a bang. Yep, that's me Maximum. Uh huh.

He answers back quickly. _Hey, baby. Finally you answer back. And I'm coming back home!_

Ugh. _Sam. Do. Not. Ever. Call me baby again. And what the hell do you mean 'back home'?_ I say.

_Back home! As in I'm coming back to Dallas. And I can finally see you again._ Oh. My. Gosh. He could never get the hint, could he? Did he not just hear the hostile way my last text was?

I consider not answering back, but my curiosity gets the best of me. _How long are you staying?_

_Until I graduate. :) _I could practically see his stupid smirk through the text. I can't believe it. He's staying.

_Well when are you coming? _I needed to know so I could prepare myself and everyone else.

_In 2 weeks. I'll see you then :D _

_Well what are you so happy for? It's not like I'm just gonna take you back. If that's what you want, you're dreaming. _I tried to be firm.

_Come on baby, that happened a long time ago. You wouldn't hold a grudge, would you? _My rage was full blown. I could not believe he said something like that. He's never said something that straight forward before.

_What the hell, Sam! Don't ever talk to me again. I'm sick of you!_ I think about showing the texts to Iggy, but I decide against it. He would probably go ballistic and try to go to Arkansas, where Sam lives now, just to beat him up. That's what _I_ wanted to do, even.

But no. I promised myself that I wouldn't let this guy get a hold of my life. So I won't.

* * *

_I'm sitting in the back of Sam's car with him. 6 months ago. I'm happily telling him about my day at school and he keeps trying to kiss me and get closer to me. I keep telling him to get away every five minutes, but he keeps doing it. I kind of ignore it for a little bit, and I am successfully doing so, when he abruptly stops kissing my neck. _

"_What did you just say?" He asks angrily._

_I'm confused. I was just telling him about me in art class, when my art partner, which was Dylan, had told me my art piece was amazing. I had been having trouble with that project, so I was happy that someone had given me some positive feedback. "What are you talking about?"_

"_You know what I'm talking about. That jackass has had a crush on you for the longest time. You're just going to make it worse." _

"_Sam, what are you talking about?," I scoff. "There is no way Dylan has a freaking crush on me. He's like another brother."_

"_Don't lie to me, Max. I know that you used to have a crush on him too." His voice seems to rise by the end._

"_What the hell has gotten into you? You were fine when we first started going out two months ago, and now you're acting like the worst son of a bitch ever!" I was proud of myself. I had never stuck up for myself that way to him before. But apparently he wasn't as thrilled as I was._

_Right after I was done telling what I thought of him, I immediately felt a bursting of pain in my left eye. I had then realized that Sam, my one and only, had hit me. Hit me. I was so pissed, it wasn't even funny._

"_What the _hell." _I said, enraged. I immediately ran out of the car, holding my left eye. I heard him calling after me, but I sprinted all the way home. _

I wake with a start. I sigh. I ended up taking him back the next day. He seemed apologetic enough, and I had decided that if he did it again, I would break up with him. Iggy had gone ballistic when I got home with a black eye, but I told him that I had gotten hit with a baseball in p.e. that day. Sam ended up not really doing anything again. He was still controlling with his words, but he didn't ever get violent with me again. But still, I can't believe that I used to be that weak. If he were to do that now, I would kick his ass.

Mom screams at me through the door. Now why does she wake Iggy up with the sweetest caring voice that I used to know, and me with probably the worst screech in life, you ask? I have no freaking clue. Strangely, it's been like this since dad left. Iggy and I notice it. I mean, who wouldn't? But every time I bring that little _fact_ up, she completely brushes me off. It's so frustrating.

But thank goodness, I go through this morning without getting in one argument with her. It was a major accomplishment in my book. Although I was mad at mom about this, I still love her and want her old self back.

So considering this, I walk to the bus stop in a good mood, despite my dream. Iggy, seeing the slight perk in my step, smiles a genuine smile at me.

When we get to the bus stop, Fang and his siblings are already there. Fang is looking really good in his jeans and black button up shirt. I grin at Fang.

"Somebody's in a good mood today." He says, smiling slightly, making my world light up.

"Yep" I say perkily. I see Fang's little brother and sister, and I wave at them with a smile. They come up to me and Iggy, and Angel starts talking.

"Hi! I'm Angel and I'm 7. I was gonna say that yesterday, but you looked mad." I laugh at her bluntness.

"Okay then, Angel. I'm Max. And you," I look at Gazzy, "are Gazzy right?" He smiles and says "Yup."

"You're pretty!" Angel says suddenly. "I think Fang thinks you're pretty too. I heard him talking to himself this morning." Iggy starts laughing uncontrollably, while Fang and I blush like crazy. But I have to admit, that girl is a trip.

Fang clears his throat and says, "Umm Angel and Gazzy, why don't you guys go play with your little friends." He looks so embarrassed. I smirk at him.

"Talking to yourself doesn't sound like a good idea around your house, does it, Fang?" Iggy says, enjoying every minute of this. I smack him in his stomach.

Fang uncomfortably shakes his head. I give him an understanding look. "Don't worry about him. He just enjoys making fun of people so he can get over his own insecurities."

Fang chuckles and Iggy thankfully shuts up.

* * *

"So Max, have you heard anything about Sam?" Dylan asks me at lunch. He looks worried. I think he was always kind of scared of Sam.

Our table looks at me, wanting to know the news. "Uh, yeah I texted him last night, and he said he was staying here till graduation." They look dejected. "I know guys, but like I told you yesterday, it doesn't matter. We'll just ignore him."

"Well when is he coming, then?" Fang asks. I already know that when Sam gets here, Fang is going to hate him, no matter what. I'll have to keep an eye on him.

"Two weeks."

That irks everyone, apparently. I don't know what they were expecting. It's not like he would come in a year and tell me about it know. But whatever. I'll have to face him someday.

I'm just relaxing in my room later, listening to music, when I hear mom call me down to the living room. I hope this goes well. When I get there, she has an angry look on her face. And I thought this day was going to be drama- free with her. Ha.

"What is this?" She says, holding an envelope up to me.

I look at it curiously, and it has my name on it. The return address is from the Houston Fine Arts School. Oh. My. Gosh. "Oh my gosh mom! Do you know what this means?" I shout, completely confused as to why she wouldn't be happy. Iggy comes in and I show him the front of the letter.

His eyes go wide and he says, "Open it! What are you waiting for?"

Mom looks furious and says, "What is this?" Angrily, I might add.

But then I remember. My heart sinks. I had done this with my dad. He helped me apply for a scholarship program for kids who were in high school. It was one of the only things he helped me with when he was still here.

The scholarship program in the Houston Fine Arts School was a great opportunity for me. You had to apply for it and only a certain amount of kids get in. I also had to send in a portfolio of my artwork. Apparently, if you got in, we would get to go on a trip to the school in Houston, and we would get to take a class for 3 days. All of our artwork would be displayed in sort of an art show where our family and friends can come see our pieces. When I found out about it, I had been excited to send in an application. And now I wanted to see if I got in.

But there was a little problem. Back when dad was around, mom didn't treat me like the spawn of the devil. If dad were still here, she would be happy for me right now. We wanted it to be a surprise for her when I got my follow up letter.

But now she's not so happy. She looks at me. "Maximum. Tell me what this is. Now."

I tell her what the deal was. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the fact that I mentioned dad in front of her for the first time since he left. Or maybe it's just the fact that we had kept this a secret. But she explodes. She immediately starts yelling at me saying, "How could you do this to me? I give you everything! I do anything for you and this is how you repay me?" Wtf?

"Mom! What are you talking about? You should be happy for me!" I yell.

She looks at me, rage clear in her eyes. "I can't believe you have the nerve to say that!" What is she even talking about?

"Oh, I get it mom! You're just mad that dad let me do this, and he's not even here anymore!Because you're scared that he didn't even want you or us! " I shout. Suddenly, her hand whips out and slaps me in the face with a loud _crack. _Tears well up in my eyes, whether from the shock or the pain or both, I have no clue.

Iggy pulls me behind him and jumps in front of me, in a protective stance and yells, "Mom, what the hell?"

I can't take it anymore. I run out of the house, without bothering to hear what Iggy is saying to mom. I decide to go to my favorite nature spot, where I always go to clear my head. I sprint the whole way there to let off some steam. The tears that were filling in my eyes finally start to run down my face.

When I get there, I look at the beautiful place. A little stream trickles through paths of stones in a meadow, just behind our neighborhood. It's a small stream that has light grass surrounding it. The sound of the water going through the rocks is soothing.

I sit on a nearby rock, and try to recollect myself. I rarely break down like this. It takes a lot for me to cry. But I guess this was my breaking point. I can't believe she just slapped me like that. The emotional pain of all of the fighting with my mom from the past eight months and now this, is just too much. I need to fix this.

I suddenly hear a rock being kicked from behind me. I look up with cloudy, and probably puffy, red eyes, and see, you guessed it, Fang.

He's looking at me with the most concerned expression I've seen him wear. His eyes are so caring, so genuine.

I wipe my eyes and look away. He says, "Nice place, this is."

Apparently, that was the best thing he could come up with. I laugh a little bit.

"What?" He asks, seemingly clueless.

"Aren't you gonna ask why I look like this?" I ask, sniffling.

"Would you tell me why?" I shake my head hesitantly.

"Exactly. If you don't want to tell me then you don't have to. But I can be here for a little moral support, right?"

I smile slightly and nod.

He smiles back at me, again lighting up the world, and motions for me to make room for him on the rock. When I scoot over, he puts his arm around me, looking down at me as if asking for permission. I nod. Strangely, I don't mind what he's doing. Normally, I'm not a very touchy feely kind of girl. But with Fang, it's different. I actually like what he's doing. Which scares me.

After a few seconds of him holding me, and me letting out a few more tears, he suddenly goes, "What's that all about?" He points to the letter from the fine arts school in my hand. I had completely forgotten it was there.

I tell him all about my scholarship program, minus the mom and dad drama, and he seems like he thinks it's pretty cool.

"Well? Are you gonna open it, or what?" He says.

I chuckle. "Okay, wish me good luck."

He laughs and says "Good luck."

I rip open the envelope. I read aloud, "Dear Maximum Ride, we are pleased to inform you that—" Before I can get another word in, Fang hugs me.

"You got it."He says happily but quietly.

I smile against his shoulder. "Yeah. I got it."

Right there, in his arms, I feel content. I want to stay here for the rest of my life, and forget about my problems. But I know I can't. I get out of Fang's hug and stand up.

"I need to get back home. Iggy and mom are probably wondering where I'm at." I say, mentally wincing at the word _mom_.

He sighs. He looks at me like he's about to say something, but then it's like he decides against it. Okay, then.

"Okay well I'll see you in the morning, then. And if you ever need anything, you know where to find me." He says.

I smile gratefully. "Thanks." I mutter.

**Hope you liked it. I'll be updating whenever I can. I might be a little busy the next couple of days, but I'll try. And thanks for all the good reviews. I love 'em! :)**


	6. Dramaville

**Hey guys, Here's the next chapter :) I tried to put a little more Fax in it like some of you wanted. And by the way the reviews are awesome! **

Fang walks me home. I think he sees that I'm worried, so he puts his arm around my shoulders the whole way there. I could still feel the sting from mom's slap and I'm guessing I have a big red mark on my face.

As Fang and I get across the street from our houses, he stops walking and just kinda stares at my face. I wonder what he's doing when he suddenly traces his right hand across where mom had slapped me. We are standing under a street light, unlike at the stream, and he can see my face more clearly. His face looks confused for a minute, then realization crosses his face, and finally I see rage clear on his features.

"What happened?" He asks urgently. He knows someone did that to me, and it was not an accident. I look away from him, my eyes landing on the ground.

"I thought you said you weren't gonna force me to say anything, Fang." I say, not wanting to see what happens if he finds out my mom was the one who did it.

He sighs, frustrated, and puts his hands on my shoulders in front of me and forces me to look at him. "This is different. Someone did this to you. And I want to know who."

I'm about to just give up and tell him everything, when a figure comes bounding out of my house. I get pushed away from Fang and get engulfed in a huge bear hug. It's Iggy.

"Are you okay?" he asks in my ear.

I hug him back and gently pull out of his hug and say, "Iggy, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

He looks like he's about to say something to me, but I cut him off with a look. I don't want him to say anything about what happened in front of Fang.

"Fang, we should get inside. Your parents are probably wondering where you are." I say lamely.

He nods regretfully, and starts to walk back towards his house. "Bye, Fang." I call, hoping he's not mad at me for not telling him what happened.

He looks back and gives me a tiny wave, and goes inside his house.

I look at Iggy, and he's looking at me with sort of mixed emotions written all over his face. Kinda like he wants to tease me about making googely eyes at Fang, but he also wants to make sure I'm alright.

"Iggy. I'm perfectly fine. It's all okay." I say, trying to convince him and probably myself that.

"Max. Your mom just slapped you in the face and you're saying everything's okay. You're in denial!" He says worriedly. Maybe he's right. But I just wanted all of this to just go away. Why can't mom be normal again, along with everything else in my life? First Sam coming back, and now this. Why does everything have to be so complicated? Ugh.

Suddenly, tears well up in my eyes again. I can't believe this is happening for the _second time _tonight. I try to keep them there, but apparently they won't listen. I hate bodily functions.

As the tears start running down my face, even harder than earlier, Iggy runs up to me and hugs me again. I start sobbing onto his shoulder, much to my embarrassment. I've probably never broken down like this in front of him before.

I am vaguely aware of Iggy practically dragging me into the house and up to my room. When we get there, my sobs have let up and my tears are finally starting to slow.

"Oh hey." He says.

I look at him, confused.

"Did you make the scholarship thing?" He asks.

I smile, despite my tears. "Yeah", I say quietly.

He gives me a quick hug and a smile before he leaves the room.

* * *

The next day, I'm ridiculously tired. I had woken up with a major headache, probably because of all the crying the night before. I didn't see my mom at all that morning. I figured she was just avoiding me. I don't know why_. I_ should be the one avoiding_ her_.

But once I go to the bus stop, my day seems to get better. Fang cheers me up, despite the little episode last night. He comes up to me and smiles slightly, taking my hand. I was a little surprised at first, but I realize it's just something that will make me know that he's here for me. He's giving me emotional reassurance with his touch, not his words. I know it means we're just friends, obviously. Even though when he takes my hand it feels like shocks running up and down my arm.

"You okay?" He asks quietly.

"Yeah, I'm good." I say, looking up at him.

Iggy smiles at me from where he's sitting on a bench with Gazzy. I smile back. I think I've decided that I'm going to move on from the whole mom fight. I mean, I already have people who love me here. My friends, and Iggy. Who else could I need, really? They seem to care about me enough. I'm happy with who I have.

As we board the bus, Fang drops my hand, and I'm immediately aware of the cold air that wraps around my hand. He leads the way to a bus seat and I sit next to him.

At lunch, I notice Nudge making googley eyes at Iggy. Was this what it looked like when I looked at Fang earlier? I mean, this is sort of repulsive. I don't know. Maybe it's just because he's my brother. But anyway, he was totally doing it back to her. Wow. Fang noticed it too, and we smirked at each other. Iggy would never hear the end of this.

But at the end of the lunch table, I saw Ella watching them with pure jealousy in her eyes. I kind of always known that she had a crush on Iggy, but she's never acted on it. I hope nothing happens to Nudge's and Ella's friendship because of this.

* * *

I think it's time that I intervene. I think Iggy needs to choose some girl, or this whole thing is going to blow up. I knock on his door.

"Come in!" He calls. I open the door, and find him lounging on his bed, texting. I go over and sit on the opposite side of his bed.

"What's up?" he asks. He looks up at me from where he's lying.

"Um… I was wondering… What do you think of Nudge?" I ask hesitantly.

He smiles and gets this faraway look in his eyes. "Nudge. She's cool." He says casually.

"Do you like her though?" I ask.

"Maybe. . ."

"Okay Iggy, I'm warning you, you better like her for real, because this could take a serious toll on Ella and Nudge's friendship." I tell him seriously.

"Wait what are you talking about?" He asks. He looks confused.

"I'm saying if you and Nudge start going out or something, Nudge is not going to see the end of it from Ella. What do you think I'm talking about?" I say. I mean seriously.

"Wait. What does any of this have to do with Ella?" He asks. Is he serious? Ella liking him is the most obvious thing ever!

"Are you serious? You can't possibly be that dumb." I say.

He sits up and looks at me seriously. "Are you telling me that Ella is jealous of me and Nudge?" He asks, surprise lighting his features.

"Well I'm not entirely sure; I mean I didn't really want to hear how amazing and awesome my brother is coming from a girl, so I didn't ask her. That would be sort of an awkward conversation, don't ya think?" I say.

"Ella." He says, getting that faraway look in his eyes, again. It's like he didn't even hear what I just said. Oh no. This cannot be happening. Is he starting to like her too or something?

"Iggy. Do you like her?" I say, getting really worried.

Iggy's faraway expression goes away and he looks at me. "I don't know."

"Well I think you need to find out before something really bad happens." I say, starting to go towards the door. "This might not end well for any of us." I leave the room without another word, leaving him dazed.

That night, I'm sitting outside on my porch, sketching a picture of the night sky, when I see Fang come out of his house. He seems like he's going to sit on his porch, but when he notices me watching him, he walks across his yard and onto mine.

"Is that seat taken?" He asks, and points to the chair next to mine.

I look at him, amused. "No." Original, I know.

He sits on the chair. "That's cool." He says, pointing to my sketch.

"Eh. Its okay, I guess. I'm just bored." I say. He puts his arm on the back of my chair.

"Hmm." He mumbles. Okay then. It seems like he's sort of nervous about something. I'm trying to figure out why, when he starts talking again.

"So Max. About last night."

I'm about to tell him I'll tell him what's going on, but he cuts me off.

"No Max, you don't have to tell me anything. If you're not hurt again, then I won't ask again. Besides, Iggy basically had a cow when he went out there last night." I was super surprised. Maybe Iggy had told him something today about what happened or something.

"Oh, okay then. Thanks." I say.

"Yeah. And I've been meaning to ask you something." He says, sounding more nervous.

"Shoot." I say, slightly confused. What could he want to say that would make him so nervous?

"Would you wanna go to the movies or something with me tomorrow night?" He asks, looking down to the wooden porch floor.

Oh. Wow. How could I be so stupid? Sigh. I go over the pros and cons. On one hand, Sam is coming back. If when he comes back, and I'm going out with someone, it could be bad. But I promised myself that I wouldn't let Sam control my life again.

But I was a little scared of this. I actually like Fang. What if he ended up to be just like Sam, though? He wouldn't. I know he wouldn't. But I'm still a little worried.

"I won't be like _him_, if that's what you're thinking." Fang says. How could he possibly know I was thinking that? Man. This boy's good.

I smile at him gratefully. "Well then. Sure. I'll go with you tomorrow."

**Hope you liked it. I'll try to update ASAP. Reviews are appreciated :)**


	7. You're Worth It

**Hey guys, sorry about the long wait. I had been having some writers block, but now, I'm completely set. And sorry about the story kind of going slow, I'm going to try to start speeding it up a little after this. But here's the next chapter and I hope you like it! **

I wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. I have a date with Fang tonight. I'm a little nervous and excited at the same time. But whatever happens, happens.

I haven't talked to mom since the 'incident' has happened. I know I should say something, but I wouldn't really know what to say. _Oh, hey mom I just wanted to say that it so wasn't cool that you slapped me. But I think we should totally forget about it and just be great happy best friends! _Yeah, no. That's not happenin. Besides, I haven't even seen mom since it happened.

But, I'm not going to let that get in the way of the date tonight. It is Thursday, but we have a student holiday tomorrow. I don't even know what that means, but I just accept it and be happy. Ha.

So I'm getting ready for school, just minding my own business, right? And I'm just about to put on my t-shirt that says, _Does your brain know what your mouth is doing?, _when I see Fang come out of his house. Now, I know you're still laughing about my amazing t- shirt, I know. But did you just realize what I said? Fang coming outside of his house. While I'm putting on my shirt. The window is right by his house. The curtains are completely drawn. _Shit. _What the hell is wrong with me?

I try to pull it over me fast, before he notices, but while I try to do so, the shirt gets caught on my bed headboard. And you ask me, how the hell did this happen? I really don't know. So, I'm half naked, with my shirt covering my eyes, so I couldn't see anything, right in front of the guy who just asked me out last night. Fml.

So, I just drop to the ground. I figure this is the best way out of this scenario. I quickly untangle myself from my t-shirt that apparently has some problem with me, and put it back on. Then I straighten up and look back out the window. Fang looks up, conveniently right at the time I stand, and I see a faint red in his cheeks. I hope to God that that is not because of me.

I quickly run to my bathroom and put it in a loose ponytail, then put on a little bit of eyeliner. I walk to the kitchen, only to find mom and Iggy sitting at the table. No one is speaking, and the room is a little tense. Mom looks up.

Her face is impassive, but her eyes are guilty, almost pleading. I look away from her. I'm not ready to forgive her yet. I tell Iggy it's time to go, and he gets up, not really looking at mom as we leave the room.

Iggy and I walk to the bus stop quietly. But then I remember tonight.

"I have a date with Fang tonight", I say. I know. You're probably thinking, _why the hell would you tell your brother about your love life?_ But with Iggy and I, it's different. We have always been best friends. We tell each other everything, even when it comes to this stuff.

He barks out a mocking laugh. "I knew it!" He smiles. "I think he's a good guy."

Now it's my turn to laugh. "I wasn't really asking for your approval, Igs. You know that. And if what you think is that I'm going to pick someone like how Sam was, then you're wrong. That won't ever happen again. Believe me."

"I know, Max. But you can't blame me for trying to look out for you", he says. I guess he's right. Sigh.

When we get to the bus stop, Fang looks up from where he, Angle, and Gazzy are sitting on a bench. He smiles and blushes. Oh, great. Now I know he saw me earlier. I'm going to try to play it cool. So what if he saw me? It's not like I have anything to be embarrassed about. Ha. Yeah, right. That's not going to happen. I walk over to him.

_Go with the flow, _I think to myself. I won't talk about it unless he does.

"What's up?" I ask. I sound a little nervous, even to my own ears, and I feel my cheeks get hot. The three Collins kids wave to me. I smile slightly and sit next to them on the bench. There's not much room, so I have to scoot up right next to Fang. He smirks down at me.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" I ask. I want to know so I can know how to dress. Well, I'll most likely end up wearing jeans and a t-shirt no matter what, anyways. But I just want to know.

"Ooo, you guys are going somewhere?" Angel asks from on the other side of Fang. She looks uber happy.

Fang laughs. "Yeah, Angel. We're going out on a date." He seems proud to say that.

"Does that mean that y'all are going to be kissing each other all the time at our house or something?" Gazzy says, making an "ew" face.

"Yes, Gazzy", I say sarcastically. "We're going to be making out all over the place, all the time."

Fang laughs. "Not quite, Gazzy." He looks at me and we share a small smile. "I'll pick you up at 6. And by the way, what we're doing tonight, is a surprise."

I groan. I really wasn't a fan of surprises. Why can't we just tell each other what we're doing? It's beyond me.

"Fine." I said. "But only because it's our first date." He smirks at me a little.

"So there's going to be _more _dates, then?" He asks mischievously.

"Possibly…" I say, while rolling my eyes.

….

The first few classes of the day are boring as usual. Fang and I pass a few notes, mostly about me begging him to know what we're doing tonight, but that's it.

But as we're at lunch, Nudge, all of the sudden, bursts out into one of her rants, directed at me.

"Oh my gosh, Max! I cannot believe you didn't tell me that Fang Collins asked you out!", I like how Fang was sitting right next to me, when she's saying this. "Ella, J.J, and I are your best friends, and you didn't even tell us! I am so offended! But, it's okay now, I forgive you. Now we gotta find out what we're going to do with your hair! Oh, and your clothes. Oh, man this is going to take a while. Okay, we're coming over right after school. I've decided."

Man. I'm almost out of breath, myself, just listening to that.

"Nudge. I really don't need your help with this." I said, almost defeated. This lecture usually never works with her.

"But… But, but Max!" She says in a whiny voice. I made the mistake of looking at her. She has her bambi eyes out, of course. _Everyone_ knows I can't refuse bambi eyes.

I sigh, and have to look up at Fang to remind myself that I'm doing this for him. Hopefully, he's worth it.

Ella speaks up. "It's okay, Max, I won't let Nudge go too over the top." I smile at her gratefully.

J.J. looks up from her most recent book she's reading. "And I'll make sure either of them won't do anything over the top." She chuckles.

"Okay, fine."

* * *

"Now, where are you guys going again?" Ella asks, expertly looking me over as her, Nudge, and J.J. looks through my closet.

"I don't know, he says it's a surprise." I say, bored, sitting on my bed. I look at the clock. 4:30. Only an hour and a half of this hell. Yes I call this hell, by the way.

Nudge squeals from inside my closet. "That is so cute, Max! I wish someone would do that for me! Oh—" Ella cuts her off, thankfully.

"Okay, well you might want to dress casually, then, because you don't know where you're going. It could be anywhere." She ignores Nudge. The vibes from them are a little tense, if you know what I mean. I really hope that's not because of Iggy. I really don't want them to fight over a freaking guy. It's not worth it.

"Okay, well can we hurry this up? Y'all know I don't like all this crap." I say, walking towards the closet.

"Alright! I've got the perfect clothes that could go with wherever y'all are going." Nudge holds up the outfit. They're a pair of dark wash jeans, a baby doll shirt that's black with a bow right below the bust with some black and white flats. I guess this is doable.

"Now you, my dear, are ready to go on this date." J.J. says. "Knock 'em dead."

…..

I look in the mirror one last time. I surprisingly, look good in the outfit. My hair is half up, half down, completely straight. They put mascara, eyeliner, and some blush on me. I was happy they didn't go all out.

I hear a knock on the door, and Nudge, J.J., and Ella all jump up and down. I'm going to let them stay the night because they're going to want to hear all about my date afterwards. It's not like I'm gonna be out all night or something with Fang. Well…maybe… Ha, just kidding. Not gonna happen.

I walk down the stairs, only to see Iggy greeting Fang. I have no idea where mom is.

As I walk down the stairs, Fang looks up at me and a big smile crosses his face. I smile too. Iggy looks up at me and obviously see's the flirty eyes we're making at each other and rolls his eyes.

I stick my tongue out at him and keep walking towards Fang. He's wearing a quarter sleeved blue button up and some skinny jeans.

"Ready to go?" He asks, still smiling a big smile.

"Yup." I say, sort of excited.

"Alright, you children, have fun." Iggy says sarcastically. We laugh and walk out the door.

"Alright, where are we going?" I ask. My patience is running low.

He laughs and says, "You'll see." Then he starts walking down the street. This really makes me wonder more, but I try to refrain from asking again.

We walk to 'wherever' in a comfortable silence. Fang slips his hand inside mine as we walk down the street, and I smile to myself.

"Alright we're here." He says. I realize I'm still smiling to myself like an idiot about the holding hands thing. I look up and am instantly amazed.

We're at my little nature spot. Only it's way better. There are lights strung like a path leading to a big rock with a blanket on it. On the blanket is a big picnic basket. The stream is as pretty as ever with the moon light shining on it. Man. What kind of 21st century guy does this for a girl? That he barely met. But all I know is that it was awesome.

"Wow…" I say, speechless. He smiles at me, and pulls me towards the blanket, and we sit on the huge rock. "I can't believe you did all of this. For me."

"You're worth it." He says, completely serious. He's looking at me all intense like.

Butterflies fill my stomach. No guy has ever made me feel this way. "Thanks", I say quietly.

He pulls food out of the picnic basket, and we talk quietly, just about our interests and hobbies. I already know his music interests, due to the first day he was here. He likes bands like Forever the Sickest Kids, The Young Veins, The Format, and other alternative rock bands like that. We surprisingly like the same type of music. He also likes to play the guitar and likes to write. Mostly poetry, he says. When we're done eating, we just lay on our backs, and just watch the sky. This is so cheesy, and I've probably seen this in every chick flick movie I've seen, but you should try it sometime. It's actually really nice.

"So…" Fang says. "About what happened a few days ago?"

I'm confused for a second, but then realize what he's talking about.

I sigh. "You really wanna know, don't you?" I turn my head to look at him, propping my head onto my hand.

"If you want to tell me, then tell me." He says, looking back at me with a serious expression.

I think I'm okay with telling him all of this. I trust him, which is a big deal for me.

So I tell him. I tell him all about my dad and then I tell him about my mom with what happened two days ago and how she never seemed to like me since dad left. He takes it all well. He's very calm while I'm talking and he doesn't interrupt at all. When I'm done, he looks at me with sympathy in his eyes.

"I'm sorry you have to go through all of this." He says, taking my hand.

I sort of blush. "It's not your fault. And I'm okay, really with all of my friends and stuff."

"And with me?" He asks, smiling at me teasingly.

I laugh. "I guess."

He smiles. Suddenly, the mood gets really intense. I know you think, "this is the part where they're gonna kiss!" but I looked up at the sky, looking all the stars, a little scared for this.

But suddenly, I feel his hand gently take my face and pull it back to looking at him.

"You got a problem with me looking anywhere else but you?" I ask sarcastically.

"Yes." He replies with amusement in his eyes, his hand still resting on my cheek.

I laugh. And then he gently pulls my face to his, closing the distance. It's a gentle kiss, nothing that crazy, like he was reassuring me. I put my hands around his neck and his hands go to my waist.

Our lips move in sync and it starts to get more intense. I realize we're moving, and I'm all of the sudden on top of him. He goes to make the kiss deeper, but I break it. I'm not sure I want to go this far yet. We're both breathing hard, and he moves my bangs from in front of my face to behind my ears.

He smiles at me and I smile back.

"Are you ready to get home, then?" He asks, looking up at me. I'm still sitting on him.

I nod regretfully. "Iggy's probably waiting for me." I get off of him, and the rock and take his hand while walking out of the meadow through the lighted path.

**So I hope you liked it. Please review if you did! :D**


	8. Old and New

**Hey guys thanks for all of the awesome reviews! I love you guys for it! And sorry if you went to read this and the 6th and 7th chapter was missing. The website has been doing that a few times. I have no control over it, so if it happens again, just come back in an hour or so, and it should be back on. But here's the next chapter! :D**

Fang and I walk home side by side with our hands laced together. We're in a comfortable silence until he breaks it.

"So when are you going to that art scholarship thing?" He asks, looking down at me and smiling.

I smile back. "It's in 2 months."

"Oh, that's cool."

"Yeah, I get to bring one person with me. I guess I'll bring Iggy." I say, thinking out loud.

"Yeah, he's a good choice", he says, looking thoughtful.

When we get back to my house, I reach up to give him a kiss on his cheek. "I had an awesome time tonight." I smile.

"Glad to hear it. Me too." He says with a half-smile. "I'll see you later."

I wave and step inside my house. Iggy just happens to be walking to his room, right next to the door.

"How was it?" He asks, looking me over, as if checking for bruises or something.

"It was fun." I said, smiling real big.

"Whoa. I guess it _was_ good, since you could probably make me blind with the shine from your teeth."

I smack him in the arm and laugh. I start to walk to my room to see the girls, but all of the sudden they all three pop up out of nowhere and start shouting at me to tell them how my date went.

I sigh, and say playfully, "Alright let's go up to my room, so I can give you guys the _juicy details_." Yeah, we know _that's _ gonna happen.

As we're walking, well me walking and the others skipping, to my room Nudge and Ella, at the exact same time go, "Bye Iggy!" All cheery and what not.

They both stop and glare at each other.

Iggy clears his throat and says, "Um. Bye guys." And leaves to go to his room after giving me a nervous look. That boy. He's going to make me fix this.

I share a look with J.J. "Alright guys let's go." I say, trying to prevent a possible cat fight.

We run upstairs to my room, and I tell them a little bit about our date. Of course they thought the whole nature spot thing was romantic. They gushed all over it. I didn't tell them about the kiss or that I told them about my parent drama. They might think it was too early for that. They wouldn't understand.

Nudge had to leave early because she had to do something with her mom tomorrow. She leaves after the interrogation about the date, calling bye to Iggy on her way out, causing Ella to roll her eyes.

"Dude. What's with you and Nudge?" I say, looking at her on the floor, from where I'm lying on my bed.

She looks annoyed. "I don't know what you're talking about." She says tightly.

J.J. and I scoff. "Yeah right!" I say. "You guys have been going at it for weeks! Is this about some certain guy I know?"

She groans and rolls over so she faces the ground. "Is it that obvious?"

"Uh, yes it very much is." J.J. says from where she's sitting on my la-z boy.

"Ugh. I was so afraid this would happen. Me and Nudge fighting for a guy. I never thought we would go to something that low." She looks defeated.

"Then don't." I say. I mean the answer is clear.

"It's not that simple, Max." She says, tiredly. "That would so not be fair if she got him. You don't know how this feels. What if you and J.J. were fighting over Fang?"

My face fell. She had a point. But I tried to keep positive.

"Well. Me and J.J. would both not have Fang." I say, unsure. I mean would I really give up Fang? Now I realize how hard this must be for her.

"Yeah, right." She says, getting up to look at me.

But then I realize what I was just thinking. These are our friends. Best friends. Nobody can get in between us, not even a guy that we like a lot.

"Ella." I say sternly. "We all are best friends. We don't let _anyone_ get in the way of that. And what I say is true. If this were about Fang, I would give him up for you guys because that's how awesome y'all are. And I hope that's what you think of us."

"Of course that's what I think of you guys." She says. "I just hope Nudge feels the same way."

"She does." J.J. says. They were the closest of our group. "Believe me." All mysterious and what not.

"Okay…But now I realize that this is for the group. I don't want us to split apart. I'll take one for the team." She says, while looking sad and determined at the same time.

I look at her sympathetically and give her a pat on the back.

* * *

The next morning, after Ella and J.J. have gone home, I hear a knock on the door. I run to the door and open it, only to find Fang. Then I realize I'm still in my pajamas. Yeah, and not the warm and fuzzy kind, either. They're short shorts and a tank top. Like super short. I kind of think I look like a hooker, personally. Don't ask me. Ella and Nudge bought them for me. How many times is Fang going to see me with less than necessary clothes on? Beats me.

He looks like he's about to say something, but then apparently he sees the way I'm dressed, and he sort of stops and looks at me.

"Whoa, buddy. Eyes are up here." I say, pointing to my _eyes_.

"Oh, man. I'm sorry." He looks freaked. "It won't happen again!" He's looking at the floor. I didn't know I could do something like this to him. Who knew Fang could freak like this?

I just smirk at him. "It's okay. You're a boy, I get it."

He seems to recover from his little freak-out and returns his eyes back to mine.

"Alright now what is it that you came here for, besides to undress me with your eyes?" I ask, still smirking.

He rolls his eyes. "I was wondering if you wanted to do anything today. We could go bowling or something."

"Oh. Cool. Bowling sounds cool." I say lamely.

"Alright. I'll just pick you up in an hour, then?" He says, smiling.

"Okay."

He goes to leave, but I put my hand on his shoulder. I pull him closer and give him a little peck on his lips. "See you in a few."

I smirk at him again and close the door. I turn to run up to my room, but I run into something hard. Iggy.

"You gettin your flirt on?" He asks, smirking at my annoyed expression.

"It's none of your business anyway." I say, pushing him out of the way.

He laughs. Then he gets serious. "Hey by the way, mom has been on a business trip this whole time. I like how she didn't even tell her own _children _that she was leaving."

I sigh, not even having the words. I run up to my room and dress in a button up purple shirt and some skinny jeans. I leave my hair how it is, because it's still really straight from last night.

In an hour, Fang comes back to my house, and we leave.

By the end of our sort-of date, we're having so much fun. We've also learned a lot about each other. I think this is really going well. We could actually end up a good couple.

When we pull up to his house, he turns off the car and turns to me.

"So I was thinking…" He says, grabbing my hand in both of his.

"Thinking…What?" I say.

"Would you be my girlfriend?" He smiles, looking into my eyes.

I fake- sigh "I guess."

He rolls his eyes and I laugh.

Then, he leans in to kiss me. His lips cover mine, and I kiss him back. This kiss was even more intense than last night's. Our bodies are nearly pressed together and his hands are in my hair. I have my hands around his shoulders.

Suddenly, I hear a _whack_ at the window, kind of like a rock had been thrown at it. Fang and I pull back reluctantly, and I look up at whoever it was that interrupted this moment, ready to chew someone out.

But when I look up, I do a double-take. It's Sam. And he doesn't look happy.

******Sorry about the shortness of it. But review if ya liked it! I'll try to update soon but I might be busy or have summer homework(ew) to do. So yeah. But I'll try to get a chapter in tomorrow night.**


	9. Badassness

**Hey guys. Thanks for all the good reviews _again_. You guys are awesome. So anyway, here's the next chapter...**

Sam is standing in my driveway, next to his car, and is basically staring us down. He looks surprising different. His hair is much shorter than it used to be, nearly shaved. He just looks older. Which makes sense. I haven't seen this guy in eight months. Although he looks way better than he used to, I'm definitely _not_ attracted to him.

But what the hell? Sam's not supposed to be here for another week.

"Is that who I think it is?" Fang says, looking at me worriedly.

I nod, and he goes rigid.

"I need you to go to your house. I'll be there when Sam leaves, okay?" I say.

"I swear, Max, if he does anything—"

"Fang, relax, just let me take care of this, okay?" I say, looking at him seriously.

He nods reluctantly.

I step out of Fang's car and start walking toward my house, and I hear Fang get out and head to his house. He's probably going to be watching from a window or something.

"What do you want, Sam?" I say, getting down to business.

"Oh, hey there, Max. What, no 'hello'?" He says with a smirk. "And who was that friend you got there?"

"That is none of your business, Sam. Now what are you doing here?"

"Well if you must know, my parents moved back here a little earlier than expected. And I just wanted to say 'hey' to my favorite girl in Texas." He says, looking me over. I clear my throat and he looks at me.

"Yeah, sure, your favorite girl. What about the girl you cheated on me with? Where's she?" I say, actually curious. I never found out who he cheated with. I didn't really want to know actually, after it happened, but now I've been dying to know.

"Oh, Bridget, you mean. Yeah, she's too much of a slut for me, I think." I should've known it was her. _That's_ why she hates me. Once this info seeps in, I'm really mad.

"You need to leave now, Sam, and I don't want to see you again!" I shout, giving him my best glare.

He flinches a little, letting some emotion, other than smugness, to cross his features. He quickly recovers, though. "We're going to be seeing each other every day, babe. I go to your school now, remember?"

I ignore the babe comment. He's never going to stop, anyway. "Alright, we'll see about that, Sam. Just leave me alone. _You're _the one who cheated on _me_. You're not supposed to be like this."

"Like I said before, babe, let the past be the past."

"Well, Sam," I say, starting to get angrier. "I don't want to be with you. At all. I haven't wanted to be with you since the day you _left_. So go get your slut and harass _her_."

"Actually, I think I'm fine right here. You haven't even given me a welcome back hug!" He says, starting to walk over here with his arms raised.

I act like I'm going to hug him, but instead when he gets close to me, I kick his feet out from under him and put him in a head lock. Bet ya thought I couldn't do _that_.

"What the hell?" He shouts, struggling. I hold him there with my body weight, leaning on him.

"Listen here, Sam." I whisper in his ear. "I am not the girl you could push around eight months ago. I've changed."

"Max?" I hear a voice call from my house.

I drop Sam, and pure shock is written all over his face. I turn around and Iggy is there, smirking.

"Hey, Iggy, you remember Sam, right?" I ask, pointing to Sam who's trying to get up from the ground.

"Oh, yeah I thought I smelled something nasty coming from here." Iggy says, coming in between us, knowing something could happen.

Sam seems to recover from his shock and instantly becomes enraged. He looks at me. "You'll regret ever doing that, Ride." He gives Iggy a look before he starts to walk back to his car.

"Oh, _now_ it's a normal name instead of babe." I mutter, loud enough for him to hear, and he sends me another glare. I smirk back at him. I'm not really that confident on the inside, but with guys like him, you can't show weakness.

Iggy sighs. "That douche is back? And what's with the wonder woman act?"

"I wanted to show him that I'm not that old vulnerable Max that I was when I went out with him."

"Hmm." Iggy mumbles, before going inside.

"I'll be at Fang's house." I call.

He waves, so I head over to the Collins'.

* * *

It's Monday morning, and Fang and I are walking inside the school, hand in hand. We just decided to show people, rather than tell that we are together.

We get tons of stares, of course. The new kid with the "un-dateable" girl. That's what people used to call me because I hadn't gotten together with anyone since Sam left.

We see Sam on the way in, but he just glares at me. I ignore him and keep walking with Fang. When I had gotten to Fang's house I told him everything that happened. Apparently he thought it was hot that I could fight. Well sort of fight I guess. I _did_ take kick boxing lessons when I was younger.

When we get to History with Iggy, I see Bridget, and she smirks at me. Apparently, she knows that I know about her and Sam. I just roll my eyes, and say, "You can have him." While passing by her desk.

Then she sees me and Fang's hands laced together, and it's my turn to smirk at her. She looks pissed, to say the least.

At lunch, Nudge and Iggy are looking at each other again. I guess he's made his choice. Not that it would've mattered anyway, since Ella had the guts to take one for the team.

Ella looks away from them, jealousy flashing through her eyes, before looking down at the table. I put my hand on her shoulder and she looks up at me, with determination in her eyes. I smile at her supportively. She seems to perk up a bit and turns her head to talk to Ian.

When I'm turning my head back to Fang, I notice Dylan staring at something on the table near Fang and I. I look down and realize he's staring at me and Fang's hands. We have them laced together on top of the table. I put our hands under the table, and Fang glances at me, question in his eyes, but I just shake my head.

Dylan notices and his cheeks get red. _Awesome_, I think sarcastically. Of course, when our table found out we were official, everyone loved it. Except maybe Dylan. That was probably the only thing that Sam was right about when we were going out. I'm pretty sure he's had a crush on me for a while now. I guess he's always been too scared to act on it or something. But I've never even had feelings for him, anyway.

I see Sam a few more times during the day, and of course he glares at me every time. I just ignore him, though.

After school that day, Iggy and I are hanging out at Fang's house. Iggy and Gazzy have sort of formed a cool bond. I guess Gazzy felt he needed another older brother.

Angle, Fang, and I play Monopoly and just have a fun time. It's times like these that I wish could stay forever.

* * *

The next day in history class, we're informed that we have to do a project in groups of four. Of course, my first two picks were Fang and Iggy but we wouldn't get to choose our group because my teacher was going through PMS or something. She was acting all kinds of messed up. So she's going down the list of groups and my group is Fang, Iggy, and Bridget.

Okay, I am very happy about the first two, but Bridget? Really? Did fate do this on purpose to teach me a lesson or something? I think so. Now she would have to actually come into our house. Ugh.

Our project is that we have to make this poster on the Holocaust. So the project isn't too bad. When we get into our groups, I immediately try to find ways to get done as fast as possible.

"Okay, guys, we can go to our place", I say pointing to Iggy and I, "tomorrow. If that's good for y'all."

"Perfect." Fang says, smiling up at me. We're still in that super happy just-couple stage.

Bridget just looks at me and rolls her eyes and says shortly, "Fine."

We decide what all of us are going to do and agree to meet up tomorrow. Fang, Iggy, and I will probably already be there, so all we're gonna have to do is wait for Bridget. Ick.

As we are walking to the bus after school, Sam appears out of nowhere. I'm lucky enough to not have any classes with him, but I still see him randomly throughout the day. He looks at me and smirks, for what reason, I have no idea. This gets me slightly worried. What's he going to do?

"You okay?" Fang asks, looking down at me.

"Yeah I'm fine." I say, unsure.

As we sit on the bus seat, he puts his arm around me. I love the way he can just comfort me with his touch. Since he doesn't talk much, it's what he usually does, and I'm not going to stop him.

* * *

The next day at lunch, Nudge stands up unexpectedly.

"I have an announcement to make." She says, all excitedly looking at Iggy. "Iggy and I are now officially boyfriend and girlfriend."

I think that was the shortest sentence she's ever said. But the news is okay. I'm happy for Iggy and Nudge, but I hope it's not too early for Ella.

"Congrats, guys!" I say happily, but looking at Ella at the corner of my eye. She gives me a reassuring smile. Maybe she's already starting to get over this.

"Thanks, Max! Oh my gosh we could totally have double dates with you and Fang! That would be so fun! Where do you wanna do it? The movies? No never mind there's nothing good out. But we could go to the mall or something! Yeah we should—"Iggy covers her mouth with his hand.

"Um, sure Nudge." I say, amused. I lean into Fang and say smiling, "We would be happy to do that right?"

"Whatever", he says, leaning down to kiss me.

The rest of the table makes groaning sounds. Apparently they aren't amused by our PDA. I stop the kiss before it can go anywhere. I wasn't a big fan of PDA either, even if it's us.

"Well what about tonight?" Nudge asks.

"Ugh. Can't. We have to do this project with Bridget." I spit her name out.

She makes an 'ew' sound. "Oh, great. Have fun with _that_. I mean what else could she possibly do to make you hate her worse? She's so annoying." I shut her up with a look.

"I know. But at least I don't have to be with her alone." I say, looking at Fang and Iggy.

"Yeah, we'll be sure to stop a cat fight from happening." Iggy says, only half-joking.

"I'm not going to fight her. She's just not worth it anymore." I say. I don't feel the need to do anything, even if she _did _cheat with Sam. If anything, I should be grateful. If she hadn't have cheated with him, I would probably still be with that idiot.

The bell rings and we go to the rest of our classes. The school day goes by quickly. Now, Fang, Iggy, and I are getting ready for our project. We have all of our supplies on our dining room table set up. Fang and Bridget were supposed to do the information part and Iggy and I are doing the poster. I already have the art part on the poster, so this little meeting will hopefully go by fast.

Our doorbell rings, and after sharing a look with Fang, I go to let Bridget in.

"Hi." I say shortly.

She just rolls her eyes and comes in.

"What's up boys?" She says, bringing out her natural slut. I also really hate the way she's looking at Fang, like she's challenging me.

Iggy and Fang just roll their eyes and we go sit at the table. We quickly get the project together, Bridget making snotty remarks throughout the time.

"Oh, hey Max can you get me some scissors?" Bridget asks, which is weird because she hasn't been doing anything the whole time.

"Uh, okay." I say, standing up to go look for them.

"Iggy, go with her so y'all can find it faster!" She says, pulling Iggy up and pushing him closer to me.

Fang and I share a confused look before me and Iggy continue down the hallway.

"What the _hell _is this all about?" Iggy asks me quietly.

"I have no idea, but it sounds suspicious." I say, worriedly.

We find the scissors and we go back to the dining room. But what I see sort of pisses me off. Bridget is all over Fang. Kissing him. And this isn't going to be one of those things where I go running off, before I see what Fang's going to do. I'm not really that melodramatic.

"Holy shit." Iggy whispers from behind me.

So Bridget's all over Fang and I can clearly see Fang trying to push her off without hurting her. She's like freaking duct tape or something. So I feel like I should do the honors.

I walk calmly over to them and rip Bridget off of him. I pull Bridget against the wall by her arms and say fiercely, "Dwyer. If I _ever_ see you touching my boyfriend again, you are going to seriously regret it."

She tries to get away from me, but I'm too strong for her. "You got it?" I say, getting all up in her face.

She growls, but then nods.

"Good. So now, get the hell out of my house." I let her go and she goes and gets her purse and runs out of the house.

I look over at Fang and he's trying to get all of the hooker lipstick off of his face. He looks up at me. "Max, I am so sorry, I swear—" I cut him off.

"Fang, it's okay. I know you didn't do it."

"But still I should've used more force or something. I'm sorry."

I sigh. "It's okay Fang."

"Well, I know one thing." Iggy says, looking at me. "That was probably the best example of badassness I've ever seen."

**So I hoped you liked this chapter. I'll update in a few days. Lovin the support! Please review! **


	10. Classic

**Thanks guys for the sweet reviews! I enjoy them so much! For your reward: Here's the next chapter...**

The rest of the day goes by smoothly. Iggy invited Nudge over and we all watch a movie. Nudge totally freaked when I told her what happened. She thought it was cool, what I did. But, seriously, that was just me holding back. I could've and wanted to do much more. But, I took some self-control and I'm going to save that violence for later.

So, after the movie, Iggy and Nudge go into Iggy's room, and Fang and I are in the living room, cuddled up on the couch. I'm just sitting there with my head on the back of the couch, eyes closed, and Fang is sitting next to me, twirling my hair with his fingers.

"Are you sure you believe me with what happened today?" He asks, not looking in my eyes.

"Fang. I clearly saw you pushing her away. It's perfectly fine. She's just a slut." I say, moving his face to look at me. "I definitely forgive you. And it wasn't your fault."

He smiles at me and pulls me so that I am sitting on him. I put my hands on his shoulders and lean down to kiss him. The kiss is so sweet, so perfect. Even though we're just sitting on the couch of my house, it's a romantic moment.

But, then the kiss starts to get very different. More urgent. He has his hands on my back and mine knotted in his black hair. We're as close as possible, and when we pull back for air, he starts kissing my neck. We're really getting into it, when we hear the front door open, which is right in front of us. I quickly pull back, fix my hair, and look to see who it is.

Mom is standing in the doorway, looking at me.

"Hi." I say, tightly.

"Hello." She says civilly. Then, she walks into the house, carrying her suitcase and bags.

"Who's this?" She asks, nodding her head at Fang.

He jumps up and says, "Hi, Mrs. Ride, I'm Fang Collins, Max's boyfriend." He shakes her hand.

She looks at him and nods and proceeds to go into her room, suitcase in trail.

Fang looks at me. I just shake my head and roll my eyes.

* * *

The next month goes by well. I keep getting looks from Sam, and now Bridget, but nothing has happened yet. But the thing that worries me the most is that they're always starting to be in the same place when I see them. I don't really know what to think of that.

Fang and I are closer than ever. We haven't gone "all the way" yet, either, if that's what you're thinking. I'm a virgin, and I plan on keeping it that way for a while. Sam had wanted to do it, and he pressured me to no end back when we dated, but I never gave in. Fang hasn't pressured me to do anything, thankfully. We have just been getting to know each other way better. Now, we're not only boyfriend and girlfriend, but best friends as well.

Speaking of best friends, Iggy and Nudge are still a couple too. They've also grown closer, and I think that's great. But you know how I don't really like to kiss and do all that PDA stuff with Fang? Yeah, that's definitely not how they are. You could be just sitting there having a random conversation, and they would break out kissing right next to you. It's pretty repulsive if you ask me. But, ya know, great for them.

Ella and Ian have gotten closer too. They're almost best friends, I think. J.J. has been all into school, of course, but she's gotten together with a boy named Kevin. They're both nerds in disguise. They make a cute couple. Dylan, however, isn't really that great. He hasn't nearly glanced at me since Fang and I have gotten together. I keep getting these unpleasant vibes from him. You know how you can usually tell when people are frustrated without even talking to them? That's how he has been. I'm not really sure what to do with that.

Life at home has still been the same. Mom basically refuses to look at me most of the time. She and Iggy have gotten back to talking, but her and me, not so much. Iggy keeps pressuring me to go and say something, but I don't know what's stopping me. It's like I want her to prove that she loves me by making her be the one to come to me.

It's also a month till the Houston fine arts scholarship program starts. It's free, so I don't have to ask mom for money or anything. And dad had filled out all of the permission forms back when we signed up for it. But all in all, I'm pretty stoked for this. It's going to be a really fun and learning experience for me, I think. I've been working a lot on my art at home.

So, as you can see life has been going good. Right now, Fang, Iggy, and I are all in History class, bored as heck. But suddenly, I feel horrible. Like I'm really sick.

"Can I go to the nurse please?" I ask the teacher weakly, earning concerned looks from Fang and Iggy.

The teacher says I can go, so I leave my books on Fang's desk and go to leave. Fang whispers on my way out, "Do you need me to go with you?"

I smile slightly at him reassuringly and shake my head.

I walk down the hall slowly, taking my time. I have a really bad headache. I almost feel light headed, like I was going to pass out. I take a short cut to the nurse's office by going through an outside door. There's no one here, so I just take a deep breath and keep walking slowly.

Suddenly, I hear something behind me. It's like I'm in one of those horror movies, you know? Where the innocent girl is walking in a deserted place, hearing noises behind her and there's nothing there, right? That's totally me right now. After looking back about three times, I'm behind the gym. Almost to the nurse's office.

But then, I see Sam comes out from behind a tree. Classic.

"Hey, Ride." He says, looking surprisingly calm.

"What do you want, Sam?" I say, trying to walk faster.

All of the sudden, he darts right next to me, and pins me against the wall with my hands above my head.

"What the hell, Sam!" I say, trying to get away. It's definitely not working. He looks at me smugly.

Then, I see someone else come from behind Sam. It's Bridget, and she's smirking at me. "Now, it's time for payback, _Maxie_." I just roll my eyes at her.

"She's right, you know." Sam says who's right in my face. Then, he leans in my face and kisses me. Right on the lips. I start ferociously trying to get away, disgusted.

"Save that for later." A voice from behind Bridget says. Sam pulls away, and after giving me a mocking look, looks behind him. His head moves just enough so that I can see who it is. I'm completely shocked when I them though.

It's Dylan. He looks at me with annoyance, it looks like. I was at loss for words. This is why he has been so distant lately.

He laughs at my expression. "Guess you didn't think that I would be a part of this, did you, Max?"

I just growl, still in disbelief.

"Yeah, well, Sam, here, came to me with an idea. We decided to take it upon ourselves to get revenge on you, since you wouldn't come to one of us. And Bridget, here, I think just wants to see you get owned or something."

"I can't believe you!" I shout, outraged.

"Well, believe it, babe." Sam says, still in front of me, and he leans down to kiss me again. This time, I try to think, even though it's really hard, through the huge headache I still have. He, stupidly, forgot about my legs. I kick my knee up into his groin. Apparently, I do it so hard that he immediately falls to the ground, crying out, and holding his crotch.

Dylan, leaping over Sam, runs over to me, and before I can react, back-hands me across the face and I fall to the ground, my face stinging. I get up immediately and throw a punch in his face. He winces but then punches me in the nose, and I cry out. Blood comes spurting out all over my clothes and the wall.

At this point, Sam is already up and he tries to come after me. Before he can do anything, I elbow him very hard in his face. Dylan comes up from behind me and takes my arms. My head is starting to get really fuzzy. And it's not from injuries. It feels like I had been drugged or something. I didn't have time to think it through, though.

Sam starts to punch me in the gut. Multiple times. I try to kick him but Dylan takes my legs with his and holds them there. He's too strong for me. I'm defenseless. Tears come to my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. The pain is unbearable. I think I hear a couple of snaps too. Yeah, that would be my bones.

Here's the scene: A girl, possibly drugged, being held back by a boy that probably outweighs her by seventy pounds and being punched in the gut over and over by a boy that is way stronger that her. Oh yeah, with a random slut watching in the background. Not so good for the normal girl.

Suddenly, I feel my brain start to shut down. My vision is very blurry and my eyes start to close. I go limp in Dylan's arms.

Right before I completely pass out, I hear a voice say, "It worked. Go bring the van here so we can do this without being seen."

**So guys, hopefully you won't kill me. But please review and tell me what you would like to see what happens next. I would appreciate the feedback. So review, and I'll update ASAP. Oh, and sorry that it's so short!**


	11. Annoying Cycle

**Hey guys! I have more than 100 reviews now! Score! Apparently most of you liked the last chapter, so I went with it. So, here's the new one, and tell me what you think afterwards.**

The first thing I notice when I wake up is the pain. My stomach feels like it's on fire. My head is all fuzzy. At first, I think I just dreamt the whole fighting scene, but then I notice my surroundings. I look up to see that I'm in the back of a van. I'm moving a lot, due to the bumps in the road. Then, I notice I'm tied up with some duct tape. My hands are tied up behind my back and my legs, right below the knee are also tied. Joy.

I look across the van, and Dylan is looking at me with mocking amusement in his eyes. He's sitting on some sort of box. Bridget is sleeping next to him on the floor. Darkness fills the van. It's already night time.

"Still surprised?" He asks, coming closer to me on the ground.

I try to ignore him and just try to get out of this stupid duct tape. It's so frustrating. Then, I notice Dylan putting his finger on my cheek to make me look at him.

"Don't touch me!" I shout fiercely, but my throat is still very rough. It didn't sound very intimidating. I roll over away from Dylan and he grabs my arms and holds me to the ground.

My yell wakes up Bridget from across the van, and she glances at me and smirks. You would think that sluts would get mad when boys touch other girls and not them, but not her. It was kind of weird.

"It's gonna be okay." He says quietly to me, still holding me down.

"Oh yeah, it's just going to be _great_. Yeah, for you and Sam. What is this, some kind of sick fantasy of yours?" I say, getting pissed.

He just smirks at me and yells to Sam, "She's awake!"

"Alright! How's it going, babe?" He shouts back.

"Up yours, Sam." I mumble. Dylan laughs quietly. I glare at him and then just close my eyes.

* * *

Now, when I wake up, I'm being carried. I look up and it's Sam. I look all around, and it's still dark outside. Dylan and Bridget are next to Sam, both not looking at me. I'm still tied up with the duct tape. They're taking me inside this warehouse looking place. It's basically deserted and there's only one road leading out of it. I see a road sign in the distance that says

_Kellar, TX…25_.

Crap. 25 miles away from Kellar, Texas. That's about 7 hours away from where we live in Dallas.

"You awake now, babe?" Sam asks, looking down at me and smirking.

"Oh, you back to calling me 'babe' now? I am just _so_ flattered."

He ignores me and nods at Dylan to open a door in front of us. He opens the door and we're plunged into even greater darkness.

All of the sudden, I'm thrown onto the ground and I grunt from the pain in my ribs. I hear Sam and the others running away and he yells, "I'll be back later, babe!"

Awesome. I'm just sitting here in the dark, tied up, with possibly broken bones, completely pissed. It's not good to have anger built up like this. When I get out of this, all hell is going to break loose, and I don't care who it'll be that will have to take it.

Then, I get to thinking about how I was drugged. It's not like Sam could've just drugged me while we were fighting. I think about how it could've been done when it finally clicks. Dylan sits in our table! Duh! Oh, man. This could've been prevented if I would've paid attention! He probably just slipped something in my drink or something while I was talking to Fang.

I sit there for what seems like hours before someone finally comes in. It's Bridget and Dylan.

"I have to take you to the bathroom." She says while rolling her eyes at Dylan.

"Yeah well that's what you get for wanting to come here with us." Dylan says, annoyed. He never liked her before this fiasco and apparently he still doesn't.

Bridget makes an "ugh" sound before coming over to me and dragging me up from the ground. My legs are still taped right below my knees, so I'm doing this sort of wobble. I could make a move now, but Dylan would never let me get away with it. I would be beat up even more than I already am.

Dylan and Bridget both take one of my arms. They drag me out of the building and across a field. I can see a little outhouse in the distance. None of us talk and the sound of our feet crunching on the tall grass is the only thing we can hear. When we're half way there, I break the silence.

"And how long do you expect to keep me here until someone finds us? They're going to know it's you guys who took me." I say, looking at both of them.

Dylan looks back at me. "Yeah, like anyone's going to find us out here. We are in a tiny field outside of two different towns. Seven hours away from our school. How do you suppose someone's going to find us out _here_?"

I don't answer and he looks at me smugly.

I decide to try a different approach. "So, why isn't Sammy boy here doing this, huh? What was the deal? He gets to have me and then you guys get to do all of the dirty work? Where's the justice in that, huh? You guys are just pawns in his little game."

Bridget and Dylan exchange a look but then Dylan's grip on my arm tightens immensely and says, "Just shut the hell up and keep walking."

I want to say something back, but my arm is already starting to get numb.

When we get to the little outhouse, Dylan untapes my hands and holds them in both of his own.

He looks me straight in the eye fiercely. "If you try anything, Max, you will definitely regret it." He's super close to my face with an angry expression. If I were anyone else, I would be very intimidated, but I'm me. And yes, that did make sense.

"Dylan, you can try to intimidate me, but it's not gonna happen. You're still the guy that would blush every time I talked to him." I say, smirking at him.

His expression turns outraged, and he growls. "Take her to the bathroom and hurry up."

Bridget grabs my arm forcefully and drags me inside the outhouse. She takes the tape off of my hands. Dumb move, right?

I do my business while Bridget looks away.

"So, why exactly are you doing this?" I ask her, actually confused. But I'm also trying to distract her.

"Don't talk to me." She says. "Do your business because you're just wasting my time."

"Oh what, do you have to go sex Sam up or something?" I say. I did a good job of provoking her, I think. She gets so mad that her face goes red and she slaps me in the face. Oh, heck no. This girl is not going to sit here and do something to me while I can defend myself.

I grab her and slam her against the wall. The sudden movement hurts my ribs, but I ignore it. She screeches, the only way whores _can_ screech, and drags her super long nails across my arms, which draws blood. I punch her in the face. Apparently this racket makes Dylan realize what's happening.

He comes in and rips me off Bridget and throws me outside of the outhouse. This makes my ribs hurt a lot, but I keep going, I try to get up, but the tape is making it hard. Dylan runs over to me, drags me off the ground by my arm, only to punch me in the face and make me go down again. I use my legs to make him go down too. I quickly sit up and lay my body down across his and start punching him in the face.

Bridget is staying away, probably afraid of what I would do to her. Smart move.

Suddenly, I am dragged off of Dylan. He's passed out by now. I look up and it's Sam. He throws me on the ground and kicks me in the side of the head. My brain goes a little fuzzy, but it's not enough to make me pass out. I cry out, mainly because I'm mad. I try to use his legs to get up, but he grabs me by my arms and throws me over his shoulder.

"Argh!" I scream, kicking the air and punching his back with my fists.

"Ugh! Enough!" He screams, outraged. He throws me on the ground and kicks me in the face again. This time, it's really hard. It starts to get fuzzy and I see stars. The world goes black.

* * *

Alright. I'm tired of this. Why can't I get _out_ of here already? It's like a cycle. I get knocked out, I wake up confused, I get knocked out, I wake up confused. And once again, it's the same thing. Gosh, why can't this be over with already?

When I look up, I'm in a different room then last time. It's lighter. Thank goodness for that. I was getting creeped out in the other room. I try to move my hair out of my face, and I realize I can't. I look down, and I'm tied up with rope this time. The rope is connected to the wall. There's no slack in the rope, but it seems that there could be if someone wanted to make it happen. I don't think that's going to work for me. Oh, and my mouth now had duct tape on it. Yeah, that's not good, especially for me.

"Awake, there, babe?" A voice asks. It's Sam, of course. The voice is coming from behind me. I turn around him and look at him.

I give him my biggest glare. He just rolls his eyes at me. I look around and Dylan is lying on a cot, still passed out, I'm guessing. Well finally my fighting skills pay off. Bridget is nowhere to be seen, which makes me confused.

"Glad we're finally alone?" Sam says, looking at me like he actually wants to know the answer. _Oh yeah, I am just so glad that we're alone after you kidnap me. _, I think sarcastically.

I growl through the duct tape and he smirks.

He gives me a bottle of water. I am so thirsty, but even I couldn't be that stupid. I look at him like he's an idiot. Yeah, right. Like I'm going to drink that.

"Look. Why would I drug you now?" He says. "I already have you." He says that last part with smugness.

To prove that the water's clean, he drinks it himself, and then rips the duct tape off of my mouth, which stung, by the way. He pours some water into my mouth, and it tastes so good on my parched throat. He puts the duct tape back on my mouth, and gets up.

"I'll be back. Try not to make Dylan too mad when he wakes up, by the way." He smiles at me and then leaves.

**Alright I know I keep doing cliffies, but it's kind of hard NOT to do that when there's a kidnapping... so tell me what you think of this! I'll try to update either tonight or tomorrow night! So give me the feedback! **


	12. Surprises

**You guys! I have to thank y'all so much for all of the awesome reviews! Oh, and to answer some of you, I don't plan on doing a Fang or Iggy point of view for this situation. You'll see when you read the next chapter, which is this one! So...shoot...**

I've been in this room for hours, and Dylan has still not waken up. It kind of makes me relieved. I mean, this guy is probably going to beat the crap out of me when he wakes up. Do you think I'm going to be worried over him? No.

It's nighttime again. I've been here for two days.

As I just wait around, tied and gagged, I just think about the people back home. I wonder what's happening. I know Fang and Iggy must be crazy worried. Along with the rest of my friends. Fang must be the worst, though. Iggy has Nudge to comfort him. Fang has nobody like that. But this makes me wonder about my mom. Is she sad? I mean, of course she has to be feeling some sort of remorse, but is she as sad as a normal mother would be? I don't know. Thinking about my family brings tears to my eyes. I let them fall. What's the point now, anyway?

I look around the room, kind of looking for a way out, though I'm not expecting anything. I zero in on Dylan and inspect him. He doesn't look good at all. He has a big bruise on the back of his head, which doesn't make sense because I didn't even hit him there. When I keep inspecting him, my heartbeat suddenly goes fast.

Right in his pocket is a rectangle shaped object. It looks suspiciously like a cell phone. A cell phone. Cell phones lead to help. Oh my gosh. My heart goes numb with excitement. I may have a chance of getting out of here!

But then it stops. I am tied up to the wall. Yeah, not a good thing. I try to reach with my hands stupidly, but the rope immediately gets tighter. Then, I try to reach him with my legs, and they are long, but I barely tap the shape. It's hard. It must be a phone. But I would have to try to get out of these ropes first.

I try everything. I try to squeeze my hands out of them, but of course that doesn't work. I look all over the floor for something sharp, but there's nothing there either. I look at the knots of the rope, and it makes me wonder how Sam could not be in the Marines. They are the most complex knots I've ever seen. Still, I try to undo them.

I work at them for a couple of minutes. When that's gone by, I am beyond frustrated. My wrists are numb, due to the fact that I made the rope tighter by trying to undo the knots. I growl loudly through the duct tape, but then quickly quiet myself, remembering Dylan was still in the room.

I flop myself onto my side, close to the rope, and just let tears flow out of my eyes. I honestly don't know how I'm going to get out of this. But as I'm throwing myself on the ground, I feel something stick into my side painfully. I quickly sit up to look at what it was. It was in my pocket. I feel inside my pocket as best as I can through the rope, and I come out with something possibly useful.

My house key. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier! I could possibly use this key to cut the rope. I know, it's a long shot, but I have to work with what I've got. It has some sharp points to it.

I get to work immediately on the rope. If I want Dylan's phone, I'll have to work fast. He could wake up at any second. The rope does nothing at first. I feel like I'm doing this for nothing. When I begin to lose hope at about an hour into doing this, a piece of thread comes away from the rope. Adrenaline courses though me. This could possibly work.

I keep doing this for a long time, and I'm getting lots of progress when the door opens. My heartbeat goes wild and I quickly drop the key on the floor and move so that I'm sitting on it.

I put a bored expression on my face and look up. It's Sam and he's looking at me with squinted eyes. I give him a murderous look and his natural smirk comes back to his face.

"Havin' fun, babe?" He sees the look on my face and continues. "Don't worry I'll be back in a few hours to _keep you company_." He says the last words with like lust or something. I am completely mortified and disgusted.

He sees the slight fear in my eyes and smirks at me knowingly. "Sam's got to get a few hours of sleep, though, before we can have any real fun." He talks about himself in third person. He goes deeper into the room, and pulls out a bag, and starts to walk out of the room before he looks at me again.

He walks over to me and moves the hair out of my face. "I'll see you in a few." He says quietly. Then, he lightly kisses me on the cheek, and I flinch back. He smiles a tiny bit but comes closer to me. He rips the duct tape off of my mouth and moves even closer to me.

"Don't." I say fiercely, but he's already moving forward. He kisses me again. He tries to open my mouth with his, and I let him, but then bite his lip as hard as I can. Blood comes from his lip immediately and he back-hands me across the face. For the second time, I might add. I slam against the wall. He grabs my hair and pulls my face back to in front of him. I cry out in pain.

"You're gonna regret that later, babe." He says, and surprisingly he has a little smirk on his face. He slaps the duct tape back on my face and goes out the door.

Dylan surprisingly is still out cold. But I don't have time to think about that. I get back to work right away. The rope is merely half what it used to be. I probably have about three hours before he comes back.

I spend the next two hours trying to break through the rope. I also fight the need to use the restroom and nausea. I think my injuries have finally caught up to me. I have a major headache and the nausea is getting worse and worse. I have the need to go to sleep at one point, but I have to remind myself what I'm doing this for.

When I'm almost done getting through the rope, the nausea finally gets too much for me. My stomach churns, and I lean as far away from the rope as I can and basically puke my guts out. The bile leaves a burning in my throat and a disgusting taste in my mouth, but right now, nothing can stop me.

I work as hard as I can when it's almost broken through, and it finally breaks. I don't think I have felt this happy ever in my life. I quickly take all of the rope off of me, rip the tape off my face, and run to Dylan's side. I gently put my hand in his pocket and take out the object. Thank God. It's a phone.

I flip it open and dial 911.

"911, what is your emergency?" The operator asks.

"Yes, I've been kidnapped!" I say quietly but urgently.

"Ma'am can you please tell me your location?"

"Uh, I don't know exactly where I am, but I'm in this warehouse place and I saw a road sign that said it was twenty five miles away from Kellar." I say, trying to hurry it up a little.

"Is anyone hurt, ma'am?" Her calmness was not very contagious. It kind of made me more frustrated, listening to her voice.

"Yes I am hurt and a boy is hurt! Just please send somebody over here!"

"I alerted the police and ambulance, someone is on their way now. Please stay on the phone with me till they come."

I'm about to tell her more when I hear the door open. I quickly hang up and put the phone back into Dylan's pocket. I try to make it back onto my spot, but Sam comes in before I can.

We both stand there, just staring at each other, until Sam runs like lightening towards me and tackles me to the ground. He lands over my stomach, and he puts his knees on either side of me. He grabs my arms and holds them to the ground.

"You think you can escape, you little whore? Huh? That's not going to happen. And you're going to pay for ever trying."

I grunt in response and try to get my hands free. Obviously it doesn't work, and he starts to kiss me. Like seriously kiss me. What's up with psychos saying they're mad but then kissing the innocent victim? It's beyond me. But that's just what Sam does. His tongue goes into my mouth, forcing my mouth open. I try to knee him in the back, but he's not fazed at all.

His hands start to move down my shirt. I guess he was really into it or something, because he forgot about my hands. I jump with all of my weight on top of him and push with my hands. He starts to go back, and I stand up right before he can push me back down. I punch him in the nose and I hear a crack. Score one for Max.

He grunts loudly and tries to punch me in the face, but I duck. His misses by a fraction and his fist moves my hair slightly. I kick him in his groin and he goes down, groaning. Score _two_ for Max.

All of the sudden, I hear sirens in the distance. Sam hears it too.

"You bitch!" He screams and lunges at me.

He punches me right in the gut, causing me to cry out loudly. Um, hello! Those bones are already broken! I double over. He punches me in my face. I weakly stand up straighter, and my eyes land on something across the room. It's a fire extinguisher. I make a dash for it, but Sam trips me and I land flat on my face.

My hands block my fall, and I get right back up. I turn around briefly and kick him in his groin _again_. Let me tell you, that move _never _gets old. I run over to the fire extinguisher, and rip it off the wall. I turn around and Sam is standing right there. I try to raise it over my head, but he grabs it first. It's a strength competition. Which is obviously not fair for me.

Sam is about to overpower me, but he suddenly goes down. Bridget is standing there with a murderous expression, holding a baseball bat. I look at her, utterly shocked, and she just looks evenly back at me.

"You were right." She says. "I'm just a pawn. I've always been a pawn for him. And I'm tired of it."

I look down at Sam. He's out cold, but not dead.

I look at Bridget evenly. I'm going to have a hard time forgiving her, but right now, she basically saved my life. I can't forget that.

We walk outside together, where two police officers come running over to us.

I don't know if it was the injuries, or just the relief of finally being okay, but suddenly, my world goes black.

**I hope you liked it! Please review and tell me your thoughts...**


	13. Safe

**Thanks soooo much for the awesome reviews. I get so mad though when I try to thank someone personally when they give me the best reviews, and they aren't members! Ha. But I got the most flattering reviews. And please know that I am not stopping this story any time soon, even though it seemed like a climax and what not. Believe me, I have many more ideas for this story. So, this is definitely NOT the end. Here's the next chapter! **

I wake up feeling groggy and I have a horrible pain in my head and my ribs. When I take a breath, my ribs feel like they're on fire, and I start coughing, which makes it hurt even worse. My whole body is sore. I'm lying on a cot. I look up and I'm in a moving car. At first I think I'm kidnapped _again_, but then I realize it's an ambulance. Then the whole picture comes into view. There are EMT's standing over me and hooking me up to things.

"Are you awake, sweetie?" One man asks gently.

I try to nod, but then realize I can't. I'm in a neck brace. Really, people?

"Okay, well we're going to be at the hospital in a few minutes, okay?" I look at him, and he continues. "The police are going to need to talk to you, but you're going to need a parent or guardian present. What's your name so we can contact your parents?"

"Maximum Ride." I say weakly. "My mom and brother live in North Dallas. They're about seven hours away."

The EMT's exchange looks and the one that I was talking to nods his head. The girl EMT asks me what my mom's number is, and I tell them. They go back to work on me. They start checking for broken bones.

"Okay honey; tell me when it hurts, okay?" Okay, this "honey" thing is getting slightly annoying.

I nod through my neck brace. They start pushing on my body and I'm fine except when they get to my ribs.

The girl EMT presses on my ribs not so gently and I cry out. The man looks at the woman worriedly and runs over to a shelf. The lady keeps checking my bones and finds that there are no more broken ones.

I have an IV in my wrist and he puts some liquid into it. I realize it's probably pain medication. Which sucks, by the way. I've never done well with pain medication. It always makes me feel horrible when I wake up. But I figure, if it makes me not feel any pain, then I'll have to deal.

I gently fall asleep when I see the medicine make it into my arm.

* * *

I wake up to the sound of machines. I immediately know that I'm in a hospital. I'm also happy that I don't have a neck brace on anymore. There's no one in here but me, and I just sit there, bored. I glance at myself in the mirror across the wall, and I'm horrified. I have huge bruises on my cheeks, and a black eye. I also have dried blood around my nose. I also have lots of scrapes on my face. I try to get the dried blood off my face when a young woman in a white coat comes in the room.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Tran." She says with a smile, walking forward to my bed. "I'm glad to see you're awake."

"Uh, thanks." I say roughly. "Where's my family?"

"Oh, after we got your name, the police immediately recognized it. They issued an amber alert in Dallas for you after you were gone for a day. Our police contacted your police and they contacted your family. They should be here in an hour or so. As for your condition, we think you have a few broken ribs and possibly a concussion, but we couldn't really decide anything while you were asleep. We're going to give you an x-ray and an MRI preferably now, if you're up for it."

"That's fine." I say. I just want to get this hospital over with. Also, I want to get done with it before my family gets here so I can be in the room when they get here.

They roll me, still on my bed to get an x-ray and conclude that I have two broken ribs. No surprise there. When they take me to the MRI, they do think I have a concussion. That explains all of the loss of consciousness. All of this takes about an hour to do and finally I'm on my way back to my room.

When I get there, I am so hopeful that my family is already there, but I'm disappointed. Not yet. Sigh. I turn on my TV and watch an episode of Glee. Yes, I know normally I wouldn't like something like that, but it could actually be entertaining sometimes. I'm in the middle of the episode when the door opens.

"Max!"

I look to the side, just in time to be basically tackled by two big body masses.

I feel pain in my ribs, but I don't care. They're Fang and Iggy. My heart goes wild. I have never been so glad to see them in my life. My eyes immediately well up with tears and I hug them back. Iggy pulls back after a minute, but Fang holds me longer. I can feel his tears drip onto my back.

I look at his face. He looks horrible. Well, you know, not his _looks_ looks, but his eyes have huge dark circles under them, like he hasn't slept in days. This makes me cry even more. He's been through so much pain.

When he sees me cry harder, he grabs me again and crushes me to his chest. It would've been an awesome scene, if my stupid ribs weren't in immense pain right now. I push him back and manage to say, "Ribs" through my tears. He pulls back slightly and kisses me for a few seconds. I can taste our tears on his lips. I think I forgot how amazing that is. I want to just have a full out make-out session with him right now, but I know I can't. I'll save that for later.

Fang and Iggy take a better look at me and rage fills their already tearful faces.

"What happened to you, Max?" Iggy says. Fang is still trying to pull himself together.

I realize that nobody knows what happened to me still. I haven't talked to the police yet.

"Sam and Dylan kidnapped me. And Bridget, but she actually helped me at the end." They look confused.

"Just tell us from the beginning." Fang says, taking my hand.

I tell them about my whole kidnapping. They are obviously as shocked as I was when I they find out about Dylan. But I think Iggy takes it the hardest. He and Dylan were good friends. But, I think they are the most surprised when they hear about Bridget. They both look at me with astonished faces.

"I know." I say.

After I'm done Fang asks hesitantly, "Max…You weren't r-r—"

I cut him off. "No, Fang. It…came close. But no."

He and Iggy look beyond pissed. I can tell that they want to beat Sam and Dylan up badly.

I put one of my hands on Fang's and one on Iggy's. They seem to calm down.

"Where's mom?" I ask quietly.

Iggy says, "Talking to the doctor. Max, you should've seen her. She became a reck when we found out you were gone. I think this actually changed her."

At that second, mom comes bursting through the door, running over to me with major tears in her eyes. She gives me the biggest hug ever, careful to avoid my ribs. I'm shocked for a second but then hug her back.

"…Mom?" I say quietly.

She looks at me with the saddest expression ever. "Max," she sobs, "Max, I'm so happy you're safe."

I look at Iggy and Fang over her shoulder and they smile at me. I smile back through more tears. Ugh.

"Thank you." I say, looking back at her.

This seems to make her more emotional and she starts crying on my shoulder. I hold her supportively till she's done. Wait. Shouldn't this be the other way around? Oh well.

Just then, I see two police officers come inside my room.

"Excuse me, Miss Ride?" One of them says. " This is Dan and I'm Allie. We need to have a word with you."

I nod and Mom swiftly moves away from me whispering, "We'll talk later?" I nod.

She smiles at me slightly and goes to sit on a chair beside my bed.

"Can you guys give us a minute?" Allie asks the boys but I quickly grasp their hands as they're getting up to leave.

"Can they just stay in here? They already know what happened."

The officers exchange looks and Allie reluctantly nods.

They ask me questions about the kidnapping and I tell them all that I know. It turns out that Dylan is still out. He's in a coma. Sam admitted to hitting him on the head after he woke up. Sam's in custody right now and he has a large bail. I have to testify against him later during his court date. Although that will be a hassle, I definitely do not want Sam coming back for me or something. Bridget is also in custody, despite her heroic actions at the end. She was still there while they kidnapped me and that's obviously a crime. I won't testify against her in court, though. She saved my life.

After the officers are gone, my family all put a reassuring hand on me. And for the first time in the past few days, I actually feel safe.

**I hope you liked it and please review :D**


	14. Conversations

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! I didn't have my computer for a little bit and then i was having a little bit of writer's block, but now I'm good! Thanks for the reviews and here's the next chapter!**

I stay in the hospital for a few more days. The doctors just want me to have a lot of rest when I get home. They don't do anything for my ribs; they just say that they'll heal on their own. Same for my concussion. Also the other million scrapes and bruises all over me. Especially my wrists. Those ropes left me some nasty burns on me.

Now, we're on our way home. I'm in the back seat lying down with my head on Fang's lap. He's stroking my hair lightly. Iggy and Mom are in the front seat. Iggy, after we got in the car, quickly notified Nudge and told her we were coming home. Nudge and the others were sure to bombard me when I get there, no doubt. But, I'll just so happy to see them, that I won't really care.

I'm still not really sure how I feel about being kidnapped. I mean, of course I'm surprised or whatever, but when that emotion wears off, what will I feel? Devastation? Traumatized? I'm not sure, but for now, I'm just glad that I'm safe.

We spend most of the ride home in silence. We take a few stops on the way, and I only get out once to use the restroom. Fang stays in the car with me the rest of the stops. I can tell that he was really affected by me getting kidnapped. I know I would be completely freaked if that happened to him. I just don't know how bad it was.

When we get home, our group of friends is standing in our driveway. They all yell, "MAX!" when they see our car, and I laugh quietly.

They all run over to the car and Fang gets out and turns around, gently grabbing my hand and helping me get out of the car. We share a secret smile. We're going to have to spend some time alone to just talk to each other.

When I roughly get out of the car, I see everyone that's here. It's Angle, Gazzy, Ian, Nudge, Ella, J.J., and Kevin. All of the girls immediately rush at me and basically crush me. My ribs flare up with pain. I let out a yelp, and they swiftly jump back.

"Two of my ribs are broken." I say in a whisper. They have looks of horror on their faces. They must've just barely seen my bruised face.

I walk over to them and hug all of them, each of them making sure they don't hurt me. They all whisper welcome back's and promises to kill Sam and Dylan. I smile at them and continue to go inside my house. Nudge chooses this time to speak. I thought it was only a matter of time.

"When are you going to tell us what happened to you, Max? I mean we know the general idea of it, but can you tell us details or something? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but we'll be there for you no matter what! Man, we were so worried when you just disappeared! Especially Fang and Iggy! Oh, and especially Fang! They were—"

Iggy cuts her off, coming behind her and putting his hand over her mouth, but then gives her a kiss on the cheek. I smile at him thankfully.

We all go inside and I tell them what happened to me. Well, I let Fang and Iggy do most of the talking because I'm just so tired of telling the story again. Fang keeps his arm around me the whole time, sneaking glances at me every few seconds. I think he's worried about how I'm taking all of this. I give him a reassuring smile. I think I'll actually be okay.

Everyone is pretty shocked about Dylan.

"I can't believe he would be that psycho." Nudge whispers, with a hand over her mouth in surprise.

"Believe it." Iggy says, sitting in between her and I. "He's had a crush on her since we were like twelve. It was only a matter of time before he cracked."

"You've had a crush on Nudge since we were twelve, but you haven't cracked. Yet." I say, causing him to blush and a few snickers.

When everyone including Fang goes home, it's nearly 11 o'clock.

I look at Iggy and Mom, who are sitting on the couch. "Um, where am I going to sleep? I can't exactly climb stairs like this." I say, pointing to my ribs.

"Oh!" Iggy says, "Just sleep in here then." He and Mom stand up, and Iggy leaves to his room, giving me a hug and a "goodnight" on the way up.

Mom looks at me and says, "Max, can I talk to you, please?"

I nod. When Iggy reaches the end of the hallway, he smiles at me and gives me a supportive thumbs up. I smile back at him hopefully.

"Honey, we need to talk." I look back at her, shocked. She hasn't called me that since Dad left.

"Okay…" I say hesitantly. She looks at me with already tear-filled eyes.

"I need to explain why I've been such a jerk these past months."

"Uh, yeah you do." I say, getting over the shock.

She sits down on a chair across from the couch and grabs my hands. "The truth is, you remind me so much of Jeb."

It was true. I was almost a spitting image of him, just in girl form. Brown eyes, same nose, same everything except the hair color. But it still doesn't justify the way she's been acting that way towards me.

"So?" I say, kind of getting angry.

"I know, I know, Max, but every time I saw your face after he left, it was like I was seeing Jeb. I would try to make myself be nice and a good mother, but I couldn't control it." She says this kind of choked up.

I say nothing, just staring off in space wondering how the past 9 months could've been if I looked different.

"Max." She says roughly, causing me to look at her. "I want to say that I'm deeply sorry. I've been getting therapy. That's why I've been gone so much. And I think I'm ready to put all of this behind us if you are. I want to start new. And I want the past 9 months back."

"What about me, Mom? I'm the one who's been basically neglected by her own mother these past few months. You didn't care what I did, my accomplishments, nothing! You treated me like dirt."

"And that's what I'm talking about", she says, calm as ever. "I want you to tell me whats been going on. I'm so very sorry I haven't been there for everything. For anything, really. I want to do this right. I don't want to go through life like this anymore. It's unbearable."

I want to yell at her some more, but I realize that it's not worth it. We've been fighting enough for the rest of our lives. She's finally apologizing, and that's what I've wanted all along.

"Alright." I say, and she reaches to hug me, tears running down her face.

"Now." She says, sitting close to me on the couch. "Tell me everything. Including Fang." She says this last part while wiggling her eyebrows. I roll my eyes, but proceed to tell her about the past nine months of my life.

…

I wake up the next morning to a kiss on my lips. I open my eyes to find Fang smiling down at me. How cute is that?

"Good morning." He says.

"Morning." I mumble. He smirks and helps me gently get off of the couch.

"Wanna go to my house today? Angle and Gazzy are eager to see you." He says, taking my hand.

"That's fine." I say. Iggy's at Nudge's house all day and Mom had to go to work. "Let me just get dressed." I step away from him and go into the bathroom to get changed. Last night, after the girl talk Mom and I had last night, she got me some clothes for me to wear tonight.

I get dressed in jeans and a Beatles t-shirt and leave my hair down. Then I brush my teeth twice. When I come out, Fang is right there, taking my hand and kissing me.

I giggle a little bit. Hey! It's the only way I can laugh without hurting my ribs.

"Why are you so affectionate?" I ask, just curious. I'm not gonna say I hate it or anything.

"I missed you." He says seriously, giving me another kiss.

"I missed you too." I kiss him back, and then we head on over to the Collins'.

We spend the day there, watching movies and talking with Angle and Gazzy, just having a fun time. We couldn't really do anything outdoors because of my ribs. That's gonna get old fast.

Now, we're on Fang's bed, just talking while Fang gently brushes my hair back from my face.

"So are you okay? You've been kind of quiet." He says, looking at my face.

"I'm fine." I say. "I think I just realized how precious life is. What would've happened if I didn't have that key in my pocket? I would probably not even be alive right now, let alone home."

"Well you really are home." He says.

"You're right." I say, smiling at him.

He smiles back.

He all of the sudden come over me, not leaning against me at all, just hovering over me. My breath hitches in my throat, causing my ribs to flare with pain, but I don't say anything. He gently runs his lips along the side of my neck and then back down. My heart is beating loudly with anticipation.

He does this about three times before he finally kisses me full on the mouth. I kiss him back, and my head starts to spin. His hands start to go down to my waist, but then he remembers my ribs.

He lays down beside me and groans, putting his hands on his head.

I smirk at him. "Sorry, buddy, you're gonna have to wait for that."

He laughs quietly and gives me another sweet kiss before helping me out of his bed and guiding me towards the door.

"We should get you home. Those need to heal." He says, pointing to my ribs.

"Yeah I know why _you_ want them to heal." I say with a smirk. He winks at me. As we walk over to my house hand in hand, I notice a car in my driveway. And it's not ours.

All of the sudden, I see Bridget walking towards us. I feel Fang stiffen next to me. I know he doesn't trust her at least as much as I do. I look up at Fang.

"Um. Can you go inside for a minute?" I ask him sweetly. He looks at me incredulous.

"I am not leaving you alone with a girl who helped kidnap you."

I know I'm not going to win this one. "Okay fine, but just go sit on the porch or something, so you can give us some privacy."

He reluctantly goes to the porch, giving my hand a light squeeze.

"Can I talk to you?" Bridget says.

"Sure." I say, coming closer to her.

"I wanted to just tell you why I've been messed up to you and especially the past few days." She looks at my pleadingly.

"Look, Bridget, you don't have to tell me. You helped me the other day in a major way, and that's all I can ask for."

"No. I really want to give you a reason why I've been such a bitch." She says, looking right in my eyes.

"Shoot." I say. I've always been wondering why she acts like that constantly.

"Okay," she says, starting to get teary-eyed. "I've been with Sam ever since he moved. He was abusive. He was controlling. The only reason why he wanted me in the first place while y'all were going out, was because you wouldn't give it up to him. I, as you know, was I'll admit it, a slut back then. I would do it with anyone, no matter who." I know that's right.

She continues with a solemn face.

" But Sam was different. I actually liked him. I would do anything for him. Including getting hit. He would hit me for the stupidest things. So, when he came back eight months later, looking for you, I decided to get back at him for everything. I pretended to still be with him because I knew he was going to do something. Dylan came out of nowhere, basically. Sam saw that he had some sort of obsession with you and he decided to go with it. He went there with the intention of killing all of us, except you. He nearly succeeded with Dylan. But I couldn't let that happen to me. Or to you."

I was shocked, to say the least. Okay, I suspected Sam was abusive. But killing them? That's pretty ridiculous. And I can't believe that she did all of this. It really made me see her in a new perspective.

Fang, seeing my troubled expression comes over to me, gently taking my hand. "You okay?" He asks.

I nod my head.

"I should be going." Bridget says, slightly waving. "Take care."

**I hope you liked it. I'll update sooner if y'all give me lots of reviews! Possibly tomorrow night. Possibly. But review anyway. Lol**

**Peace out. **


	15. Outings

**Okay, so I lied. I didn't update the next night, and I didn't even update the night after. Even after all of those awesome reviews, too! Yes, I have learned a valuable lesson. I won't promise anything anymore. Your welcome. **

The next few days, I'm just relaxing with Fang and all of my friends at home. I can't go back to school for I'm not really sure how long so I'm just chilling for now. Right now, Fang, Iggy, and I are watching a movie on TV. It's some lame B movie but we were just talking and stuff. I'm laying on the couch and Fang and Iggy are in the chairs next to me.

They're filling me in on school stuff when a thought comes to my head and makes my heart beat fast with nervousness. "Guys!" I shout, jumping up, then instantly regretting it because of my ribs.

They look at me with confusion and Fang says, "What's wrong?" while Iggy says, "Gosh, what's got your panties in a twist?"

I roll my eyes but continue. "I just remembered I have the arts scholarship program in two weeks. I can't go with two just-broken ribs!"

They look at me with sad and dejected expressions. "Do they have a different one you can go to or something?" Iggy asks worriedly.

"No! Dude, this program is only available to sophomores and they have one every year. I obviously can't go next year cause I'll be a junior." I say sadly, trying to figure out a way to make this work.

"Well can't you go even if you get your ribs taped up?" Fang asks hopefully.

"I can't stay by myself for three days like that, though."

We all look at each other, as if asking for other ideas, but none of us come up with anything better.

"Well crap." Iggy says, looking at me sympathetically.

I sink back into the couch and Fang takes my hand. "You don't need that to make you better." He says, trying to cheer me up.

I give him a slight smile, but it comes out more as a grimace. I've been excited about this for months, and now I can't even go.

* * *

The next day, I had to go to my local doctor to get my ribs taped up. They didn't do it in Kellar because they didn't think it was necessary, but they said that if I want to go back to school sooner, then I would have to get them taped up and get some major pain medication.

Mom, Iggy, and I are waiting in the waiting room when the nurse calls us in. She takes my weight and temperature before sitting us inside the patient room.

I'm still bummed about the arts program, but I guess there might be other opportunities like this. Hopefully.

Then Dr. Gonzalez comes in. He's been my doctor since I was little. "Hello, Maximum, how are you doing?"

"Just dandy." I say sarcastically.

He gives a slight chuckle. "As I hear it, you have a broken rib?"

"Two." I say.

"Man. Alright I'll make this as painless as possible." Yeah, sure. You know how when doctors say that, it's always a load of crap, right? Well, this is indeed a load of crap.

He comes over to me and starts pressing on my ribs. So I like how I just told him that they were broken, and he still proceeds to touch them. Total sarcasm.

"Um, OW!" I shout sarcastically, but truthfully.

"Sorry, I just had to conform they were broken."

I look at him darkly but jokingly. "And enlighten me with what you found."

Iggy and Mom chuckle from where they're sitting across the room and he laughs. "They are indeed broken. I'm going to tape them up real quick and give you a prescription for a pain medication that doesn't make you drowsy so you can get back to school."

I nod and ask, "How long am I going to have to stay out?"

"With this and some medication, if you can handle it, feel free to go back next Monday." He says, getting out some stuff from his cabinet.

"Cool," I say.

The appointment goes by smoothly. He tapes up my ribs very tightly so that I can barely move, but if this will make them heal faster, then it's all good.

Mom thinks its a good idea for us to do something together, as a mother-daughter outing. This was a real odd request, since we haven't done something like this since I was about twelve, but I guess it's because we just made up. It's been so awesome lately because of that. All of the tension in the air is gone and I'm already starting to feel like I can open up to her again.

"I think we should go shopping," she says, talking excitedly, making a smile light my face because I haven't seen that in forever.

I point to my ribs. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to be walking so much." Yeah, I also don't wanna go shopping.

"Oh, you're right, we should do something where we sit." She puts her hand on her chin, looking up at the ceiling, thinking.

"Movies, no. . .Bowling, no. . .Oh! Let's go get our nails done!" She says, her eyes lighting up.

Hmm. I wasn't a big fan of that stuff, but I figure it's the only thing we can do that has me sitting, and that actually lets us talk to each other, uninterrupted.

I smile at her. "Sure."

…

While we get our nails done, we talk about lots of things. We're having a really good time, but something that has been in the back of my mind suddenly becomes dominant and I feel the need to ask about it.

"Mom," I say, while we're getting our nails painted.

"Huh?" She asks, looking at me curiously.

"Whatever really happened to Dad?" I ask, looking down at my nails.

"I don't know," she says, sounding depressed for the first time that day. "He just left one day, but you know that. He didn't say anything to me to lead me to think that he was leaving. He was just . . . gone."

"Oh," I say, feeling worse about ruining the good moment we were having.

"Max," she says, causing me to look across the floor at her chair. "Don't be ashamed to ask about him. You have the right to know."

I smile slightly and nod.

…

We have a good time at the nail salon, talking to each other the whole time, despite the "dad" moment. It finally feels like I have the old Mom back. I get a French manicure, just plain nails, and Mom gets some fake flashy nails.

When we get inside the house, laughing (well, me sort of chortling because it hurts my ribs) the whole time about some joke, we see Iggy and Fang sitting on the couch in the living room. They both smile when they see us. Both of them are happy that we're getting along, especially Iggy. We can finally be a family again.

* * *

The next day, after the gang gets out of school, they all come over. Nudge can't stop rambling, J.J. gets all geeked out about the work I'm missing, Iggy tells dirty jokes, and Fang basically won't let me do anything for myself. It might sound annoying in theory, but I'm having the most fun I've had in a long time. Well, you know besides Fang not letting me do anything, though that was caring and all.

We watch movies and Iggy makes us all dinner. Mom was gone, to therapy, I'm guessing.

When they all go home, excluding Fang, Fang and I walk to get the mail. Our mail box is a community one, and we have to walk about a block to get there. We hold hands the whole way.

When I retrieve our mail, I notice there's one with my name on it. Then, I realize it's from the fine art's school in Houston. Dread fills me, thinking it's talking about the preparations that need to be made if we're going.

I throw my head back, close my eyes, and groan. "What is it?" Fang asks next to me.

I hand him the letter. He puts his arm around me after he reads it, not saying anything. We walk back to my house in silence.

When we get home, I set all of the mail, including the scholarship letter on the counter, and Fang and I go sit on the couch.

"It's going to be okay." Fang says, kissing me on my cheek.

I smile at him. "I know. Oh, well. There will be other stuff."

I kiss him on the lips slowly and his hands start to go around my back. I'm vaguely aware of Iggy going into the kitchen, making an "ick" sound; I'm guessing when he sees us. Fang and I ignore him and are starting to make the kiss even better when Iggy calls from inside the kitchen, "Hey Max! What's this letter from the school in Houston?"

I break away from Fang reluctantly, and he starts kissing my neck. "Uh, I'm not sure!" I call back. "You can open it if you want."

"Alright!" he calls, so I go back to kissing Fang.

Suddenly, about two minutes later, Iggy calls, "Hey guys! You might wanna stop sucking face in there and come see what this says!"

I roll my eyes at Fang. Fang looks disappointed about being interrupted, but I can tell he's interested about what the letter says. I am too. Fang gets up, and helps me get off the couch.

"What is it?" I say, coming into the kitchen where Iggy is studying the letter with bright eyes.

I snatch the paper from him and start reading. I can tell my face is showing what I'm thinking in my head because Fang goes, "What! What is it?"

I smile brightly and hand him the letter.

Fang reads aloud, "Dear scholarship participant, we are writing to tell you that the Arts Scholarship Program has been postponed until further notice due to natural disaster reasons. . ." He doesn't bother reading the rest.

He throws the note back down on the counter and grabs me in a hug.

**Review**, **if you please? ****Alright, I know the story line is getting kind of lame right now, but it will pick up, I prom- oh, wait. I said no promises, didn't I? . . . Oh, well. But I might not update in a little bit due to babysitting(ugh) and summer homework(worse ugh) and believe me, I really do want to update and I'll try to make it happen, but . . .no. . . promises. . .**


	16. Rough Day

**Yeah, so it turns out I haven't gotten my books for summer homework and then the girl i was babysitting didn't need a babysitter today! Well, aren't you guys lucky? Oh! And I have a fanfic recommendation to give you guys. If any of you read Pokemon fan fictions, this is a good one. It's really cute. It's called Evolution Solution**

It turns out that Houston was hit by a tropical storm. Me, being the typical teenager who doesn't watch the news, has had no idea this was happening. Terrible, I know. But can you really blame a girl that's been kidnapped? I didn't think so. The school was damaged pretty bad, some flooding and some caving of the roof in parts of the school. I feel sorry for all of the people down in Houston, but I'm also happy, as selfish as that sounds, that I'll probably be able to go to the scholarship program. I'm super excited about it.

It's Sunday, the day before I go back to school in two weeks. Thankfully, all of my make-up work is done, and I'm ready to get back. The only thing I'm actually nervous about is what everyone is going to say. Some people don't know how to keep out of other peoples' business, and frankly, that's going to annoy the crap out of me. Bridget has been back to school, and I'm not sure what kind of charges she's been charged with, but she has been back, so it probably isn't that bad. Speaking of charges, we found out when Sam's court date is. It's in a week and I have to testify against him. I'm not all happy about it, but he needs to pay for what he did to me. To all of us, really.

Dylan is still in a coma. I don't exactly feel sorry for him, but I definitely feel for his family. Imagine first, finding out that your son is some crazy who helped kidnap a girl and then on top of that, he's in a coma for God-knows-how-long. Yeah, that would not be the highlight of your life.

So today, Fang and I are taking Angel and Gazzy to the park in our neighborhood. It's the first time I think I can walk for a while without my ribs killing me. It'll be some good practice for school tomorrow.

We use Fang's car, Angel and Gazzy talking about something they were watching on the Disney Channel. When we get to the park, they run fast over to the playground, leaving Fang and I behind.

Fang smiles at me. "It's cool you're coming with me," he says, taking my hand.

"I wouldn't miss it," I say, lacing our hands together. "And besides, I haven't been able to spend any time with them either."

He nods and leans down to kiss me. Apparently the kids are still watching because ten seconds later, I hear Gazzy yell, "Ewwwwwww!" and he acts like he's going to vomit. Lovely.

I turn around and they are both watching with different levels of enthusiasm. Angel looks at us adoringly and you can probably imagine the look on Gazzy's face.

"Come play with us, Max!" shouts Angel, and she starts running back toward the playground.

I chuckle and start pulling Fang over to them. I sit on the stairs of the playground and watch them play tag. Broken ribs suck.

"Max!" Angel yells from the top of the slide. "Let's go to the swings! You can play with us there, right?"

I smile and nod. Fang grabs Angel from the bottom of the slide and starts tickling her to death. Her giggles echo throughout the neighborhood. It's so cute to see him act like this with them.

Gazzy and I laugh at them while we walk to the swings.

"Want me to push you?" I ask.

"I'll push you!" He says, pointing to the swing, telling me to sit.

I laugh and sit down. "Not so hard, okay? I don't wanna hurt my ribs more."

"Duh." He says, causing me to smirk.

Gazzy gently starts pushing me on the swing for a few seconds.

Fang and Angel comes over and Fang goes, "Dude, that's my girlfriend, get your own!"

I laugh and Gazzy abruptly jumps away from me, mumbling about how he would never have a girlfriend. Yeah, let's see about that in about eight years.

* * *

It's Monday. Gotta just love 'em. I get up, and grab the clothes waiting for me on the edge of the couch. Yeah, I probably can't sleep in my room for another few weeks. I tried to go up the stairs after we got back from the park yesterday, and I nearly broke the hand that I was holding, which would be Fang's. Iggy had a good laugh at that.

Anyway I put on my shirt, which says, _Take a picture, it lasts longer._ Very cliché, but I think it's appropriate for all the stares I'm going to get today. I put on some dark wash jeans and throw my hair up in a ponytail. I put on some comfy shoes, cause most likely, this day is going to be rough with the soreness in my ribs.

As I make my way to the kitchen, I find that Mom is awake. She's wearing an apron, which was odd enough on its own, and she's standing over a stove of pancake batter.

"What's all this?" I ask, and she looks up at me and smiles.

"Oh, I thought that since it was your first day back, we should do a little sympathy breakfast," she says happily.

"Yeah, you should've milked this rib thing way more. I would've." Iggy says from the breakfast table, where he's scarfing down pancakes. He slathers more syrup on them and points with his fork to the seat across from him.

"Come sit over here and eat, little sis," he says and I roll my eyes. I was only two minutes younger than Iggy. I walk across the room and sit across from him. I look at everything. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, and toast. She must've been up since 5 a.m. at least. Iggy and I share a look and I raise my eyebrow questioningly and he just shakes his head, mouth full of pancake.

I start filling my plate. "This was really sweet of you, Mom." I say, taking a drink of orange juice.

She smiles at me nicely. "It was the least I could do." I kind of think she's going to be like this for a while. You know, acting extra special because she basically hasn't been there for me the past few months.

I smile at her and continue eating.

Fang and Iggy walk me to the bus stop. Even at the bus stop and on the bus, I get lots of stares. I sort of stick out my chest, not in a slutty way, but so they would read my shirt and some of them notice and smirk a little.

At school, it's even worse. People openly stare at me right when I walk in the doors, and I stare right back at them, and they don't even look away! The nerve of some people.

I see Bridget in the hallway before first period. We both stop and look at each other and my group of friends goes quiet. Some people that were already staring before look at us and it gets just a little bit quieter than before.

I try to make the situation less forced, so I just nod at her and keep walking.

Fang takes my hand and we all walk to our first class. Which happens to be with Bridget. When we get there, we don't acknowledge each other and we just mind our own business.

Okay so here's how the seating is: Next to the door from first seat to last, there is Kevin, this girl named Danielle, Iggy, and Bridget. Directly across is some guy I don't know, Fang, me, and another guy I don't know.

Right now, we're just sitting around talking while the teacher is out doing who knows what. Iggy, Fang, Kevin, and I are talking when Danielle suddenly goes, "Hey Max."

I've never really called Danielle a friend before. More like an acquaintance. She was fairly smart, but she could be a little snobbish sometimes and she was a major gossip. Between Iggy and Kevin, she had been reading a book, until she looked up at me.

"Huh?" I say, not really thinking much of it. My friends that are with me all look at us, wondering what she wants.

"So what really happened?" She says, looking curious.

"What are you talking about?" I say, genuinely confused.

She rolls her eyes and looks over at Bridget pointedly. "What do you _think_ I'm talking about?"

Bridget has been watching this whole exchange, not talking to anyone. Our eyes meet, and I can tell that she's keeping herself from yelling at this girl. I look back at Danielle.

"Uh, Danielle, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with—"

"What did they do to you?" she says urgently, leaning across the aisle to get closer. "How did they keep you there? Did you get hurt worse? It's okay to tell me, I won't say anything."

"Danielle," I say more sternly, getting annoyed. "I'm not going to—"

"Was Sam actually scary or did you secretly enjoy it?" That was my breaking point.

"What the hell?" I say loudly, causing some of the kids in the class to look over. "What's _wrong_ with you?"

Fang takes my hand under my desk, trying to keep me calm.

"I just wanted to find out some answers," she says defensively. "You didn't need to yell at me."

"Well, I think you need to mind your own business. And as for your precious _questions_, I most definitely did _not_ enjoy it, although you might have. Now do yourself a favor, and don't talk to me again." I say all of this in a hard voice, really annoyed, glaring the whole time.

My teacher chooses this time to come inside the room and looks at us, expecting a fight to happen, but I return my attention to the front, seething. Fang gives me a supportive look and Iggy gives me a sympathetic one. I don't respond to either, just trying to get my mood back in better shape.

Lunch is annoying, again because of all the stares, but I was glad that I did have the support of all my friends there. Everyone that wasn't there when it happened freaks out when they hear what Danielle said. I get lots of sympathy.

The rest of the day goes like that. No one else actually asks about the kidnapping, probably because Danielle spread the whole story about how I "blew up in her face when she asked me how I was doing". But I get a lot more stares. I figure it could only get better from here.

When we get home, I just lay down on the couch, staring at the ceiling. My ribs are really sore and I'm exhausted. Iggy passes by me, and looks like he wants to say something, but I just shake my head. I'm not in the mood for talking about this crappy day. I fall asleep quickly.

_I'm sitting in the back of a warehouse, tied up. I'm looking at myself in the dream. It's like I'm someone looking down at the scene. It's kind of like my experience in real life, only I can see everything in the warehouse. It's not pitch black._

_I'm sitting there with tears in my eyes, and all of the sudden, I see Sam come from behind me. Myself in the dream doesn't know he's there. He turns me around abruptly and pushes me down to the ground._

"_You're going to do what I say, you little bitch." Sam says to me._

_I cry harder but nod at the same time. Okay, my real self would not take that. _

_He punches me in the face, my face flips to the side, and his hands start to unbutton my pants. _Come on! _I mentally yell at myself. _Kick him at least or something!

_Still, I do nothing to him._

_As he starts to kiss me, he whispers in my ear, his voice making an unpleasant chill run down my spine. "You're mine."_

I wake up with a start and I realize my head is in someone's lap. I look up and it's Mom.

"Hey, sweetie. Rough day?" she says, concerned.

I nod, remembering the horrid day. There's sweat all over my face and I can't figure out why the dream freaked me out so much. You know how when you wake up from a happy dream, you're happy when you wake up, and when you wake up from a bad dream, you're all scared? That's totally me right now. It's like I'm scared out of my mind. But having Mom right here makes me feel a little better.

She looks at me sympathetically and strokes my hair. "Tell me all about it."

**Okay, guys I've been a little curious about something. A friend of mine and I were talking about this, and we were wondering if there were any guys reading this story. Cause I thought it was something girls would like more, but I just told one of my guy friends to read it and I was wondering if he wasn't alone? So review and tell me if you're out there. And guys,(if you're out there) don't be embarrassed to say something :P**

**And please review! I want to know what you think...**


	17. Confusion

**Hey guys, here's the new chapter, thanks for all the reviews.(Shout out to my ONE guy reader! Ha.) They're rewarding to read:D And guys, like I said, this story is not even close to being over. Like it will be a _very_ long time before it's over. Just letting you guys know, cause right now, it sorta seems like the story is coming to an end. But anyways read on...**

Mom listens to my bad day and she knows just how to help me with it. She grabs us both some hot chocolate, even if it isn't quite winter, and she makes me some chocolate chip cookies. Of course, this seems like the most wonderful thing since the Beatles, because she hasn't made these in what seems like forever. We sit like that for about an hour, letting me get my emotions out. I don't cry, thankfully. I go to bed on the couch, thankful now that I have a great mom.

I don't have another Sam dream that night, thankfully. I think I'm just nervous about the trial that's coming up. In six days, I might add. I'm really nervous, but I just want to get it over with.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, school goes by quickly and normal. Danielle doesn't say anything, so I just leave it alone. I don't want to start any more drama than there already is. Nobody else gives me anymore trouble, either.

Thursday, my ribs are doing much better. They still hurt, obviously, but the pain is going down. I get up the strength to go up the stairs and Fang helps me.

Fang holds my hand with a supportive smile on his face. "Your room is waiting for you! Don't you want to go in there?" He says, pulling me up the stairs.

I smile up at him and say, "Keep going…"

"Don't you want to sleep in your comfy bed instead of that stuffy couch in there?"

"Hey!" my mom calls from the kitchen.

Fang and I both laugh. "Sorry, Mrs. Ride!"

I groan because my ribs are starting to burn more as I step up more. "Can't you just carry me the rest of the way or something?"

He chuckles. "I would gladly carry you, but then you wouldn't be able to walk up there on your own. Who would carry you when your ribs start to hurt then?"

"Iggy," I say jokingly, right when he passes by us on the stairs, bowl of cereal in hand.

He makes a "pshhh" sound and keeps going.

Fang smirks at me and keeps pulling on my hand. "You'll get to choose what you wear in the morning. Come on you can do it."

I finally make it up the stairs, and I hug Fang. "Thanks for helping." I say, squeezing his shoulders.

He hugs me back. "That's what I'm here for."

I smile at him and lead him to my room, closing the door when we get in. We lie down on my bed and prop ourselves up on our elbows, looking at each other.

"I think it's time we go on a date." Fang says, taking his hand and running it through my hair.

I smile at him. "That would be fun. Tomorrow night?"

He nods, still running one of his hands through my hair.

I close my eyes and lay my head back on my pillows. Suddenly, I feel pressure on my lips, also known as Fang's lips. I smile against him and kiss him back. One of his hands goes to my lower back, gently pushing me closer to him. This puts a little strain on my ribs, but right now, frankly, I really don't care.

When we need to pull back for air, he starts kissing my neck and I run my hands through his hair. I go back to kiss him, and we make the kiss deeper. His tongue silently asks for entrance inside my mouth, and I grant it. His hands start to go down my back, resting at the hem of my shirt.

But like I said. Broken ribs suck. The burning sensation is starting to get too much, so I have to pull back. We're both breathing hard, and he moves closer, but just to start stroking my hair again.

I put one little kiss against his lips. "I should go to sleep." I mumble against his lips.

He looks at me and smiles regretfully. "I'll see you tomorrow," he whispers. He gives me one more peck on the lips before he leaves my room, waving on his way out.

The next day at school, all is going well. I get all of my work done; nobody really asks me or stares at me about the kidnapping. I think people are starting to get over it.

After school, Nudge comes over to my house, but for me, not Iggy. We haven't spent much time by ourselves in a while. J.J. and Ella would've come over as well, but they both have things to do; Ella is with Ian and J.J. is studying for some big test. Ella and Ian are, as far as I know, really good friends. Best friends, even. It's kind of like how Iggy and I are.

Fang is at home. We have our date later tonight, and Nudge is going to dress me. Iggy is in his room, and I'm not really sure what he's doing. So Nudge and I just talk about anything and everything, catching us up on each other's lives. She's not really acting herself, all talkative and what not, but I don't think much of it. But when she's done talking about the latest gossip, she suddenly gets serious.

"M-max. . . I need to ask you about something." She says nervously.

I look at her, confused. She doesn't get nervous about things easily. "Um, sure, what is it?"

"Well. . . Do you know what Iggy has been up to?" She asks, looking embarrassed for asking.

I laugh a little, confused. "Nudge, you're his girlfriend, shouldn't you know that stuff?"

She blushes a little. "Yeah, it's just, you know, you're really close to him. Just . . . what's going on with him?"

What's up with her? "Nudge, seriously, I really have no idea what you're talking about. You've seen him as much as I have, besides seeing him around the house. What's going on?"

She looks away from me, and her blush gets even redder. "Never mind. Just forget about it."

"Nudge," I say, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at me. "You can tell me if there's anything going on with you two. I won't judge you just because I'm his sister."

She smiles at me. "Thanks Max. But just forget about it, it was dumb."

I'm not so sure she's telling the truth, but I don't want to push her. "No problem," I say, smiling back at her.

* * *

Fang and I go to the movies and dinner that night. It was really nice to just be together, to be able to talk to each other alone, especially since the kidnapping. Nudge gives me some casual clothes, a white quarter-sleeved button up and some black skinny jeans. She straightens my hair and pulls my bangs back with some bobby pins. I looked pretty good, if I do say so myself. Ha.

Fang dresses nice, looking hot as usual, just in skinny jeans and a black polo.

"So are you nervous about Tuesday?" Fang asks during dinner, referring to the court date.

I look at him, unsure. "I don't really know. I mean, I'm glad that I'll get to help put him behind bars, but it's just all…"

"Overwhelming?" he asks with an understanding look on his face.

I nod. "But, I think I'll be okay with it once he actually is sentenced, however long that is."

"How long can he actually be sentenced?" He asks, flipping his black hair out of his face.

"Three to twenty years, is what I hear to be reasonable with kidnapping. At least that's what Mom said."

He just nods and we keep talking about other things. The date goes well and I get home at around ten-thirty. As I step up the stairs carefully, I hear some distant giggling coming from Iggy's room, directly above the stair case. Okay, that isn't Iggy because he wouldn't be caught dead giggling about something. It has to be a girl.

At first, I just roll my eyes, thinking its Nudge and Iggy playing around in there. But then the person that giggled talks, and it most definitely does not sound like Nudge. I don't hear what she says because it's muffled by the door.

Suddenly, Iggy's door opens and a tall blonde girl comes out from his room, followed by Iggy. They're smiling about something. I stop on the stairs, my legs on two different steps.

"You're so funny!" she squeals, not noticing me yet. Iggy has certainly noticed me, and he's looking really nervous. I stare at him menacingly.

The girl turns her face to me, and I've never seen her before. She's not from our school.

"Aw, Iggy is this your sister? She's so cute!" She squeals again, coming down the stairs slightly to ruffle my hair. I duck under her touch, disgusted, only to yelp a little from the flare of pain in my ribs. The girl backs away swiftly. I glare at her.

"Oh my gosh, what did I do? I'm sor—"

Iggy cuts her off. "No, you didn't do anything, two of her ribs are broken." He comes over to me to grab my hand and help me up the stairs, but I wrench my hand away from his and walk up the rest of the stairs by myself.

"It was nice meeting you!" The girl calls. "Get well!"

I don't say anything and slam my door. I sit on my bed, trying to process what just happened.

Suddenly there's an urgent knock on my door. "Max! Max, let me come in, I can explain."

He opens the door. "Max, I—"

"_Don't_ talk to me." I say icily. Nothing he can say will make what I just saw untrue.

"Max, come on—"

"No, Iggy," I say, getting up off the bed and walking closer to him. "I don't want to hear your sorry excuses. I warned you! I warned you not to hurt Nudge and this is what happens. I thought you were better than this." I say, still seething. I can tell my face is red because of how mad I am.

But then it clicks. _That's _what Nudge was talking about earlier. Gosh, I can't believe I was so oblivious.

He looks defeated. "B-but I d-didn't m-mean—"

"No. Iggy, did you know that Nudge was already worrying about this? That's what she was talking about earlier today. How could you do this to her? You're going to crush her."

Apparently what I say hits home, because he suddenly goes red in the face and leaves my room without another word.

**Alright guys, tell me what you think. It's new drama.(I put lots of Fax in the chapter to make up for it) And please no "go die" reviews cause that would be sorta cruel. But it'll get better and I'll update whenever I can :) Oh, and I just felt the need to say this. My friend was out of town today and she saw a restaurant that was named "Iggy's Diner" and I thought it was the most ironic thing. LOL**

**Review and tell me what you think of Iggy!**


	18. Fixing Problems

**Yes, you guys are probably thinking, "why is she updating so much? She has no life!" Yeah, well. I'm the past few chapters have just given me lots of inspiration. So I just go with it. And it's 3:52 _in the morning_. Yeah. You are welcome. LOL. But really, I'm going on vacation for a few days so I might be able to update and I might not. Just a warning. **

I wake up in the morning thinking how beautiful it is outside. The sun is shining through my curtains and I can hear birds chirping in the distance. Classic Disney princess scene. But then I remember what happened last night.

I lean back on my bed and groan. Why do things have to just mess up like this? It was so perfect and then Iggy had to go and ruin it all.

I get up carefully in my bed and walk downstairs. On the way down, I see Iggy's room light on. I wonder how he's going to act around me this morning. I go down to the kitchen and get a bowl of cereal and sit at the table. I wonder where Mom is, but she's probably just at work. Her schedule is all over the place a lot.

I'm wondering what I'm going to do today, when I see Iggy come downstairs. Emotions come back from last night. I don't think I've ever been this mad at Iggy for something.

He looks at me and looks like he's about to talk. I focus on my bowl of cereal, not wanting to hear it.

"Max—"

"I told you not to talk to me." I say calmly, not looking at him.

"No, Max. I have a right to defend myself, okay? I keep trying to explain, but you won't even let me finish a sentence! Let me talk."

I look at him surprised, wondering where this piece of courage came from. A mad Max is not fun to deal with.

"Fine," I say, sitting back in my chair and looking at him. "Talk."

He sits down at the table across from me and says, "Okay. What you saw last night was not what it looked like, I swear."

I start to tell him to cut the crap, but he holds out his hand. "It's my turn to talk, remember?"

He continues. "Alright. I admit, I called that girl and told her to come over. She's an old friend."

"Well then how come I don't know her?" I say angrily.

"I met her at a coffee shop last year. She worked there, and I was there when Dad left. She sort of helped me cope with it. We've been talking ever since. She's two years older than us."

"Well what was she doing in your room?"

"I wanted to see her. I used to have a crush on her. But Max, I swear we didn't do anything. I didn't even kiss her."

"Iggy," I say tiredly. "She looked really into you. You're going to string her along. And what do you think Nudge will think when she hears about you having some slut in your room at ten o'clock at night?"

"Don't call her that!" He says angrily. "Her name is Veronica. And about Nudge…" He trails off.

"If you think I'm going to let you keep this from her, you're dreaming." I say, starting to get mad again. "And just tell me one thing."

He looks up at me, nervous again. "What?"

"When you had that girl in there, did you _want_ to do something?"

He looks down at the table. "No," He says quietly. "At first, I thought she was so pretty and so nice, but then I thought about Nudge. And Veronica isn't worth losing her."

I nod. "Well does she know about Nudge?"

He nods. I can't believe the nerve of this girl. She _is_ a slut. She knows he has a girlfriend, and she comes over at that hour and acts all flirty towards him and everything. I don't know, maybe I'm just being the overprotective sister or something, but she seems like trouble to me.

Suddenly, I hear the front door open and Mom comes walking in with a cheerful face expression.

"Hey! Look who I found outside." She moves over to reveal Nudge.

"Hey guys!" Nudge says, looking happy. "I was just out there about to ring the doorbell, but then Miss Ride came and so I just came in with her and so—"

"Yeah, we get it Nudge." I say, and I look over at Iggy. He's looking down at the table, real nervous. I think he thinks I'm going to tell her about this "Veronica" girl. That's not going to happen.

"I'm going to my room to take a nap." Mom says and walks off.

I look at Nudge and Iggy where there's some uncomfortable silence going on.

"Well!" I say with fake cheeriness. "I think I'm going to go up to my room and give you two some privacy."

I start to walk away, giving Iggy a dark look from behind Nudge.

I go up to my room and start sketching just random stuff, trying to get some emotion out. After about three okay drawings, I hear a knock on my door.

"Come in!"

The door opens and in comes Nudge, a not-so-happy look on her face.

"Hey." I say, putting down my pencil.

She comes inside, shutting the door and she plops down beside me, putting her head on my pillows. She mumbles something that's muffled by the pillow.

"I know, I know. So what happened down there?" I say gently, putting my hand on her arm. She lifts her face and looks at me, propping her chin up on her hands.

"We talked." Her face is blank.

"About . . . ?" I say, cautious. I don't want to say anything about Veronica if Iggy hasn't told her yet.

"About . . . what happened last night," she says, looking up at me.

"Oh." I say. "So. . . How'd you take it?"

"Well it's not like anything happened. I mean, if I get mad over this, it means I'll be acting like some jealous girlfriend." She's looking down at the bed with a confused face.

"Well something tells me you _are_ mad." I say.

"I know," she replies. "But it's just so hard not to be. I mean, if he would've told me about it, I would've been fine, but I don't know why he didn't."

"I think he was just scared. Iggy's not all that good with relationships."

She sighs and flips over, staring at the ceiling with my pillow on her face. She peaks her face out and looks at me. "I know. We talked about it."

"So are you okay with him talking to her?" I ask, picking up my pencil and continuing my sketch.

"Well, really, what can I tell him? It's not like I can say 'oh hey I know this girl helped you in a vital part in your life but you can't talk to her anymore'. That would be so messed up."

"Yeah. So what happened then? What did you say?" I look over at her.

"Well. He promised me that he wasn't going to keep anymore secrets from me. So I guess that's good enough for now."

I think she's right. "Max," she says. I raise my eyebrows questioningly. "Thanks for standing up for me when I wasn't here. Iggy told me how you got all killer on him." She smiles at me.

I smile back. "No problem. That's what best friends are for, right?"

She grins. "Yep."

I go back to my drawing, but then I hear a knock on the door, causing us both to look up. Iggy's head peeks from the other side of the door.

"Hey." He says quietly. He comes over to my bed and plops down next to Nudge, making the bed bounce.

I grunt. Nudge nods at him and puts her pillow back over her head.

"Oh come on, guys. I thought we got that situation over with." He says.

I roll my eyes and continue to sketch. He sighs.

"Hey Max." He says, a little bit more happily. "That's a pretty awesome drawing there."

He points to my sketch of a panda munching on some bamboo with a bamboo plant in the background.

"Are you trying to win me over with compliments on my drawings?" I say, amused.

"Yes." He says, smirking.

"Ugh, fine. But, seriously, if I see Veronica over here, I don't think I'm going to be very friendly," I warn.

He sighs again and looks down at the bed. "I know."

"Well Lord knows, _I'm_ not going to be very friendly." Nudge says, rolling her eyes.

"Aw, come on Nudge," Iggy says, putting his arm over her waist. "You guys could get along if you tried."

"Uh huh. Sure." She says. He laughs lightly, pulling her so that she's on top of him. They then proceed to make out. I'm not kidding. On my bed, too!

"Yo!" I say, causing them to break apart, laughing quietly. "Could you take this little 'reunited scene' somewhere else, please? I really don't want to throw up all over this when I spent so much time on it." I point to my sketch.

They laugh and Iggy gets off the bed, pulling Nudge up with him.

"See ya, Max," they say at the same time, causing Nudge to giggle like crazy and Iggy to crack up. I smile at their silliness, rolling my eyes.

* * *

I go over to Fang's house the rest of the day, not wanting to hear Nudge and Iggy the whole day. I catch him up on what's happened, and he's actually surprised. He thinks it was messed up, what Iggy did. Usually guys take other guys' sides in things like this, but he didn't. I was pleased.

We go to get the mail again, only to find another letter from the school in Houston. You'd think that if they had to send this many letters out to lots of people, they would use e-mails or something. But whatever.

I open it to see that they've postponed it till another month. Okay. I can do a month. By then, my ribs might even be healed.

When Fang sees the letter, he gives me a kiss. I can only hope that life will stay this great.

**Yeah, for real, I didn't want to make Iggy a douche. Anyway, I'll update soon before I go on vacation and then maybe during. I'm not sure. But review. And I would just want y'all to tell me what you want to see happen in the story. I'm not going to put any ideas in the story or anything cause I have it all planned but I'm just curious. So get your creative juices flowin and review! Or ya know, you could just tell me what you thought of the chapter. But either one. Lol, okay I'm acting like a real Nudge so I'll let you guys just continue with your lives...**


	19. The Trial

**Woop Woop guys! I got over 200 reviews! Thanks so much to everyone that's been reviewing! And I tried to write a little bit more than usual as a little 'reward'. So read. . . **

"Hey Max, are you going to the homecoming dance?" Ella asks at lunch the next Monday.

"Uh, I'm not sure." I say. Dances aren't usually my scene. "When is it?"

"On Thursday." She says, smiling. We have Friday off. But I think it's funny how she actually thinks I'm going to go.

I make an "eh" sound.

"Come on, Max! We're all going. It'll be so fun. Nudge is even dragging Iggy there!"

Iggy grunts from across the table. Nudge and him are acting normal again. He hasn't had Veronica over, either. Which is good on Iggy's part, because I don't really know how I'm going to act if she tries to act all cheery and what not.

Nudge laughs from beside him.

"Oh!" Ian says from beside Ella. "That reminds me. Ella, do you want to go to the dance with me?"

He says it casually, but I think it took a lot of courage to ask that in front of everyone. We all go quiet.

Ella's face gets a very deep red color and it sorta twists up in a regretful way. "Ian. . . Someone already asked me."

Now his face gets really red with embarrassment and he gets up. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just. . ." He trails off and walks in the other direction of the table.

The table gets really awkward and Ella looks depressed. "Um, I'm going to go to the bathroom."

She walks off, her head down.

"Okay," I say, breaking the silence. "What just happened?"

"The man just got _shot down_." Iggy says, shaking his head sadly.

"Dude, seriously," Fang says, from beside me. He's been watching this whole conversation silently till now with his arm around my shoulders.

"Who asked her?" I ask, curious.

Fang looks at me through his black bangs. "Damon. I saw him make his move Friday after fifth period."

I shake my head. Damon is an okay guy outside of dating, but I've always heard that he was some kind of manwhore. He would go through girls every week, almost. I've been asked out by him like four times.

"Why would she say yes to _him_?" I ask to no one in particular. J.J. looks over at me.

"I think it was to make him jealous." She says, looking annoyed about this whole situation.

"Well that seemed like a fail attempt." I say, sighing. "I think I'm going to make sure she's okay."

"Me too," Nudge and J.J. say together. I give Fang a peck on the cheek before I get up to get Ella.

We go to the nearest girls' bathroom, finding Ella huddled up on the ground. She wasn't crying thankfully. I wouldn't know how to react to that.

J.J. kneels down beside her and puts an arm around her.

"What happened out there, sweetie?" J.J. was always the best at comforting out of all of us. She was the one you went to if there was something wrong.

Ella rolls her eyes. "I just _had_ to go and try to make him jealous. Ugh! I should've at least waited to say yes like two days before the dance or something."

"So you _do_ like him?" I ask, leaning against the cement wall.

"Of course I like him! I've liked him since we met! If you paid attention to me, maybe you would know that." She says angrily, sort of glaring at me.

Whoa! Where did this come from? "Ella. . . What are you talking about?" I ask, confused.

"Max, all you've been paying attention to is your own life. Fang and your life and that's it. Would it kill you to at least ask me about my life?"

I try to stay calm. "Ella, I don't know what you're talking about. You're always with Ian! How could I possibly ask about your life?"

"You asked me one time to come over. One time. That's not exactly checking in on your best friend's life." She raises her voice.

Alright this is getting annoying. "Oh my gosh I can't believe you're going to start this!" I shout, standing up straight.

J.J. and Nudge exchange worried glances, sort of backing away from us.

"Yes, I'm going to start this," she says, getting up off the floor. "I'm tired of you being so self-centered! Do you even consider me your best friend anymore?" She says, looking hurt.

"Ella!" I say. "Pardon me for trying to work out my horrible life! I was _kidnapped _Ella, and I don't know if you have felt that, but it's not good. The court date is tomorrow, okay? I have to testify against the guy who was obsessed with me. I'm trying to work this out, and I'm sorry if I haven't given you enough _attention_ lately. Are you a little kid or something that needs attention every second or something? That's not going to happen. I-I can't take this."

I run out of the bathroom teary-eyed and confused. Where did this fight come from? I went in there to help comfort her and she just blows up in my face like that? I lean against the wall a few feet away from the bathroom. I can vaguely hear crying and murmurs of comfort.

The bell suddenly rings, and I see people coming out of the cafeteria. Iggy and Fang come out a few seconds later and they immediately see me. They both look concerned due to the tears. Ugh.

I start walking away from them until someone grabs my arm and turns me around. Fang and Iggy are there, concerned looks on their faces.

"What happened?" Fang asks, his hand still resting on my arm.

When I think about the whole situation, it causes my eyes to tear up again, but I refuse to let them fall at school.

"Ask Ella," I say and I walk to my next class.

* * *

_He whispers in my ear, his voice making an unpleasant chill run down my spine. "You're mine."_

I wake up letting out a yell with a cold sweat all over my face. It was the same dream as before. But then I remember.

Today's the day. I have to go to court. To testify against my ex-boyfriend for kidnapping me. I can do this.

Mom helps me dress appropriately for court; a knee-length black skirt and a white blouse. Not my personal favorite, but I guess it's not the greatest to be wearing some skinny jeans and a t-shirt saying _If I throw you a stick would you leave?_ Yeah, not the greatest.

Fang's parents let him take off for school so he'll be there for moral support. I was actually a lot more nervous than I thought I would be. Just being in court and having to say stuff in front of the whole jury and whoever else is in the court room is just a scary thought. Especially the fact that Sam will be there, basically staring me down the whole time. But I think I can do this if Fang is there.

We're on the way to the courthouse, and I'm wedged between Fang and Iggy in the backseat, Fang holding my hand and Iggy has his arm on the back of my seat. I think they can both sense my wariness.

We finally get there and Mom, Iggy, and Fang sit in the audience, Fang giving me a kiss and a hug before he goes to sit down. I go and sit next to my lawyer.

"You ready?" He grunts. I nod.

He was this particularly annoying man that I have met once on Sunday. He was giving me a little pep talk on what to do in court. He kept making comments on how 'the youth of today are corrupt'. I'm sorry, since I'm part of the youth, don't you think this applies to me? Yeah.

But anyway, back to the trial. I see Sam the moment I sit down, sitting a few rows over, and he's staring right at me, basically sending unpleasant goose bumps all over my body. I shiver. Apparently he sees me because the moment it happens, he smirks.

I look back at my family and Fang and he and Iggy have seen this little exchange because they both look like they want to go punch his face off or something. I look at them, pleading with my eyes for them to calm down.

Suddenly, the judge comes in the room, causing all of us to stand. They first call Sam up to the stand and he's pleading guilty. When they're done talking with him, he steps off the stand, glaring at me the whole way back to his seat. They go through all of those court room procedures, and then it's finally my turn to go up and talk.

"Will the witness come to the stand, please?"

I go up to the stand and they basically just tell me to say what exactly happened the days I was kidnapped. I take a deep breath before I talk, stealing a glance at Fang. He smiles at me supportively.

I explain everything, carefully avoiding Sam's eyes the whole time.

When I'm done, I take a seat, and smile to myself, immensely thankful that this is over.

The rest of the trial goes like this. It lasts about four hours, with a fifteen minute break. It turns out that Sam has to be behind bars for three years. Considering the possible sentence of five to twenty years, it wasn't very good, but I figure at least he's behind bars at all.

When we get home at seven at night, I fall asleep right away.

* * *

I wake up the next morning fully rested and actually in a good mood. I get ready for school, humming happily. I put on a black t-shirt and some normal jeans. I put my hair in a neat ponytail and put on a little brown eye liner.

I then make my way to Iggy's room.

"Iggy!" I shout in a sing-song voice. I knock on his door.

I hear a grunt and I take that as a 'come in'. I open the door to see Iggy lying in bed, and I go over and open his curtains, and now he's just looking like he wants to kill me because of the light shining through his window.

"Come on!" I say with real cheeriness. "I want to get to Fang's house before we go to the bus stop."

"Go by yourself!" he says, putting his pillow over his face.

"But Iggy," I drag out his name in a whiny voice. I rip the blankets off of him and start pulling him off the bed.

"Ugh!" he says, grabbing on to the headboard with all of his might.

I'm using all of my body weight now, leaning back with his legs in my hands. "Iggy! Get up!"

Suddenly, he lets go of the headboard, causing us both to fling back and hit the wall, him falling on top of me. This would've been great and all besides the fact that my ribs are broken. Remember that?

My ribs basically go on fire. "Ah!" I yell, trying to push him off me. Tears spring up into my eyes.

"Oh my gosh Max, I completely forgot!" He shouts, immediately getting off me and reaching out his hand to help me up.

I try to salvage my strength and basically try not to start sobbing all over the place. I take his hand, getting up slowly, a few tears leaking out of my eyes.

"Oh man, are you okay?" He asks, looking at me closely.

I wipe the tears that escaped and sigh. "I'm fine. Just get dressed."

I leave the room and go downstairs to wait for Iggy, getting my stuff ready for school.

He comes down five minutes later, giving me an apologetic smile saying, "You still wanna go to Fang's house before we go to the bus stop?"

"Uh, yeah," I say, pulling him out the door.

We walk over to Fang's house and Angel answers the door. A smile lights her sleepy face.

"Hey sweetie!" I say, my happy mood back.

"Hi Max! And Iggy!" She says, letting us in the house.

Gazzy comes running in yelling "Iggy!" drawing out his name like I did earlier, only not in a whiny way.

Iggy goes over to him and ruffles his hair saying, "What's up, buddy?"

I turn to Angel. She hugs me around my waist. I laugh a little. "Hey, sweetie, where's Fang?"

She smiles up at me. "He's still asleep." Her voice goes down to a whisper. "Wake him up gently, cause I think he's dreaming of you." Ha! This girl is hysterical.

I whisper back smiling, "Alright, honey." She giggles.

I run over to Fang's room, opening the door quietly. Fang is lying on the bed snoring lightly with only some pajama pants on. No shirt.

I giggle to myself and go and lay on the bed next to him. "Fang." I whisper, close to his ear.

He mumbles something and rolls over so that he's facing me, but he's still asleep.

"Fa-ang," I whisper again. He's still asleep so I begin to stroke his hair lightly and I decide to wake him up like he did before, to me.

I smile to myself and I position myself, without hurting my ribs, so that I'm right next to his face.

"Fang!" I whisper one more time, before I gently place my lips against his.

Suddenly, his eyes snap open, and I stop kissing him. He smiles at me.

"Hey, I wasn't finished." He whispers roughly, and he captures my lips with his. His hand goes to the back of my neck and I place my hands on his bare chest.

Before we can get too far, the door opens. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, there's no getting to second base before school even starts, you guys!" Iggy says.

Fang and I break apart, Fang chuckling slightly and me rolling my eyes. I grab one of Fang's pillows.

"Shut the hell up, Iggy!" I shout, throwing the pillow at Iggy's face. He grabs the pillow and chucks it back at us, snickering.

Fang smirks at me and says, "Alright, I gotta get dressed."

I do a fake pout and say, "If you _must_. . . "

He chuckles, his hands on my arms rubbing up and down. "I'll be out in a few."

I smile at him and give him another kiss before I slip out the door.

* * *

When I get to school, I suddenly remember the latest drama. Ella and the big fight we had on Monday. It makes my happy mood go away when I start to think about it again. Fang and Iggy went and asked Nudge what happened. They were both on my side, though there's not really 'sides' in this argument. I don't know why she had to blow up in my face like that.

When we get to lunch, we all sit and the table is kind of silent. I see Ella and she doesn't even glance up at me. Ian and her are sitting next to each other.

"So," Iggy says awkwardly.

The silence continues, me shooting Iggy an annoyed look.

"Max!" Nudge says suddenly. She has a worried look on her face. "How did the trial go yesterday?"

This seems to get everyone's attention; even Ella glances up for a second.

"Oh, well he got three years in prison," I say, looking down at the table. Fang holds my hand under the table.

"Man," Ian says, Ella sort of shooting him an annoyed look. He ignores her. "That's sort of unfair to you, isn't it?"

I just shrug, letting it go. I wasn't really in the mood to talk about it anyway.

Nudge speaks up again. "Max, the dance is tomorrow. I think you should go to get your mind off of this whole thing."

I look at her, wondering what she's talking about, the Ella thing or the trial but whatever she _is _talking about, she's probably right. I look up at Fang.

"Do you want to go?" I ask, earning a hopeful look from Nudge.

He looks at me, amused. "You actually want to go to a dance?"

I laugh a little. "Well maybe Nudge is right. I need something to distract me."

"Alright," he says, shrugging. "That sounds okay to me." I smile up at him.

Ella suddenly gets up and walks swiftly away from the table. J.J. looks worried and after shooting an apologetic look at me she runs after her.

I sigh loudly. Everyone looks at me sadly, understanding.

"So," Nudge says, putting a happy look back on her face. "I think we should go shopping today after school. Just the girls." She obviously forgot about my little fight with Ella. She starts again. "Well, maybe just you and me."

I frown, nodding slightly.

"Okay then." She tries to put on an excited face, but I can tell she's just trying to cheer me up.

Ugh. I hope I can fix this 'little fight'.

**So review and tell me what you think! I'll be writing more soon. **

**Peace out!**


	20. Stupid Punch

**Hey guys. Man, I completely wrecked my update-everyday-because-I-have-no-life schedule! Lol nah, I was just babysitting and then I have to babysit tomorrow night too so I might not update for a few days. Sorry! But here's the next chapter. . .**

It's after school and Nudge and I are going to the mall to get our homecoming dresses. My mood isn't all that amazing after what happened, but everyone's been trying to cheer me up a little bit, especially Fang.

We walk into a few dress shops, not really finding anything that amazing. Nudge gets a pink dress that's knee-length and it poofs out. It's actually really cute on her, but it's not something I would like for me. We're finally on our last dress shop when I find something I actually like on the hanger.

It's purple with black polka dots on the skirt, which is mid knee-length. It also has sequin on the bust. **(A/N: I'll put a link on my profile so you can see cause I suck at these things :P) **When I try it on, I actually like the way I look in it. It hugs my waist tightly, accentuating my curves, but not too much.

When I come out, Nudge lets out a loud squeal, confirming my thoughts. Nudge then proceeds to ramble about how great it is. I smile slightly in the mirror. I suddenly think how grateful I am for Nudge. She's been here for everything. This makes me think of Ella, which makes my mood go down again.

"Max," Nudge says, a concerned look on her face. "Don't you like it? It looks really amazing."

I smile at her. "I'll get it."

**

* * *

**

When I'm lying in bed that night thinking about tomorrow, a thought suddenly crosses my mind. When was the last time I talked to Ella, just her and me? I don't even remember. Even _before_ the kidnapping, I hadn't spent much time with her. I haven't really given anyone some time, except for Nudge, and even that wasn't really intentional. She was having problems with Iggy and that's when I decided to actually pay attention to someone else besides Fang and I. I suddenly feel horrible. I can't believe I was treating my own friends like this.

Tomorrow, I'm going to fix this.

…

_It starts out as the same dream. I'm tied up in the warehouse, crying, with a pitiful expression on my face. Sam comes from behind me and forces me down on the ground, punching me in the face. _

_All of the sudden, the perspective changes. I'm back in my body, looking up at Sam. I feel the pain of the punch and I feel the tears running down my face. He starts to unbutton my pants, just like in the other dream, and he says, "You're mine" all creepy-like again, looking down at me with intimidating eyes._

_But the dream continues on. An amused voice comes from behind. "Mine too."_

_I think the voice sounds familiar but I'm mostly focusing on Sam, how he's gotten my pants down to my knees, and how he's kissing me all over. I'm crying really hard._

_Suddenly, a face comes into view and I gasp in shock. It's Fang. _

_Happiness wells inside me, thinking that Fang is going to be my knight and save me. But all he does is kneel down beside Sam and smirk at me._

"_Fang!" I scream, my dream-self starting to get some courage. "Get him off me!"_

_He says nothing, but his smirk grows into a menacing grin. _

"_FANG!" I screech._

_He still does nothing._

_I start thrashing around, realizing he's not going to do anything, trying to get away from them. Fang suddenly without warning grabs my arms and holds me down._

_I give him a look of betrayal and try to thrash around again, before I realize it's no use. I then start bawling hysterically, laying limp on the ground. _

I wake up screaming, "Fang!" with tears running down my face. I had a dream again. And it was worse than I could ever expect it to be. Fang's menacing face echoes in my head and I clutch the back of my head, trying to make it go away.

Suddenly Iggy runs in my room, a freaked out expression on his face. "What the hell?" He asks when he sees my tears running down my face.

"Oh, Iggy, it was just my ribs. I just sat in the wrong position last night." I say lamely.

He nods, a doubtful look on his face, but apparently it's enough for him, because he leaves my room.

When are these nightmares going to stop? It freaks me out every time this happens, and it's even worse right now. I guess I'm just having a dream because the trial was a few days ago or something. I think I should just try to forget about it.

I get up, take a shower, and put my hair in a ponytail neatly, and put on some jeans and a purple t-shirt. I put on some flip-flops and walk downstairs. Iggy's sitting at the table eating some toast, doing some homework or something.

I sit down across from him and put my head down on the table, trying to figure out what I'm going to say to Ella today, but mostly thinking about the horrible nightmare.

"You okay over there?" Iggy asks. "What are you, PMSing or something? Yesterday you were in the best mood."

I ignore the PMS joke and speak to the table. "Nothing." I sigh.

I look up at Iggy and try to act normal. He gives me the _cut the crap_ look and says, "Max, I'm your twin. We know when something's up with each other. So what's going on?"

I know that Iggy's not going to stop asking about it, so I guess I might as well tell him.

"It's just. . . I've been having these nightmares. . . And they weren't that bad at first but now . . . it's just. . . " I trail off.

He looks alarmed, his brotherly protectiveness coming out. "What are they about?" He asks hesitantly.

I sigh. "The kidnapping. Only it's not something that happened before. It's like I'm making up a new scenario in my dream."

He looks worried. "And is this last dream you had the worst one?"

I look down at the table. "Yes."

"It was about Fang, wasn't it?" He asks, looking at me intently.

"How did you know that?" I ask accusingly. He puts his hands up defensively.

"Whoa, girl," he says. "I just heard you this morning." I slump in my chair.

I look up at him with tired eyes. "It's fine. I'm not having them every night, it's just sometimes."

He looks at me with sympathy. "Are you sure you don't need to see someone?"

"Whoa, Iggy," I say, raising my hands up like he did before. "It's not that bad, okay?"

He looks thoughtful but then just says, "Fine, but if they get any worse, you'll tell me, right?"

I nod truthfully.

He smiles at me and we head over to the bus stop, Fang, Angel, and Gazzy catching up with us a few seconds later.

"Hey," Fang says. When I look at his face, my mind immediately goes to my dream, and I feel my face falter. Fang's face goes worried right away.

"What's the matter?" He asks gently. I see Iggy glance over at us worriedly from where he, Gazzy, and Angel are walking.

"Um. Nothing." I say quickly, not looking at his face.

"Max," he says, grabbing my hand and pulling us away from everyone else. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

I sigh, looking at the ground. He gently puts a finger on my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"Okay, fine," I say, looking in his black eyes. "I had a nightmare and you were in it." I say this last part very quickly.

He frowns. "What was it about?" He asks worriedly.

"You were with Sam," I say, looking back down. "And you weren't good."

Thinking about the nightmare again makes tears come to my eyes. What the hell is wrong with my nowadays? I've been tearing up so much lately. Maybe I _am_ PMSing like Iggy said. Ha.

When I tear up, much to my dismay, Fang puts his arms around my shoulders, bringing me closer, and whispers in my ear, "Max, you have to know that I would never, _ever_ do anything like that to you. You know that."

I lean on him and nod against his chest.

. . .

When I get to lunch, I sit down in my usual seat across from Iggy and next to Fang, noticing there's someone missing. Ian is there as well, looking as glum as I feel.

"Where's Ella?" I ask Nudge and J.J.

"I think she's sitting with Damon today," J.J. says, avoiding my eyes. I don't have any classes with Ella, so I don't see her for the rest of the day. I guess I'll just have to call her tomorrow or get her on Monday. I don't really want to ruin our homecoming by having this discussion tonight. She probably won't even talk to me if I tried anyway.

* * *

"Max! This dress is just the cutest thing!" Mom squeals, taking it out of the bag.

She and Nudge are helping me get ready for the dance. Nudge is already done, so now they're just working on me. She looks beautiful.

They clip my bangs back and curl my hair graciously around my shoulders, and I think I actually look good. They put some make-up, not too much though. They say I look best with a more natural look.

After I get my hair and make-up done, Nudge helps me put my dress on, careful not to mess up any of her hard work.

Nudge looks at me after I get it on. A smile lights her face. "Max," she says, looking at me. "Fang is going to drop when he sees you." Nudge has been talking less, and I'm pretty sure it's because all of us aren't really getting along. I can't help that part of that is my fault, but I can't really voice this to Nudge because Mom's behind me squealing like a little school girl.

"Max! Have you seen yourself? You're beautiful." She says, taking my hand and dragging me to the mirror.

When I see myself, I intake a gust of air, amazed at what I see. Nudge was right. Fang just might drop.

Suddenly, a knock comes from the door.

"You guys ready?" Iggy yells from the other side of the door.

"Yeah!" I yell back. I open the door and when Iggy looks slightly down at me, his eyes widen just a fraction. He's never even seen me in a dress, let alone something this pretty. But then he looks behind me and his jaw drops, his eyes bulge. Apparently, he really likes the way Nudge looks. Yeah, _that's_ an understatement. He's in a suit, looking clean cut.

I walk down the stairs, and I see Fang waiting at the bottom, kind of looking at all of the pictures on the walls and stuff. He looks great in his black suit. Hot, even. I mull over him some more before I continue down the stairs.

I come down and casually stand next to him, and he's just little taller than me, due to my high heels.

I stand there for a few seconds, before he finally realizes I'm there, him slightly jumping when he see's me.

"Ha!" I laugh, pointing my finger at him. "I finally got to scare you!"

I'm expecting him to say some smart-alec remark, but instead he's looking at what I'm wearing. Well, just me overall. He has his signature blank look on his face, but his eyes show enjoyment.

I smirk at him, waiting for his eyes to meet mine. When they do, he comes over to me and puts his arms around my waist, pulling me against him.

"So, how do I look?" I ask, looking up into his eyes.

"Amazing." He whispers, pulling me close for a kiss. We kiss for a few seconds, my hands going around his neck and his hands rest on my back.

I pull back and smile at him, fixing his tie, where it got twisted around a little. "Well you look amazing as well." I say.

Nudge and Iggy come down stairs, whispering to each other.

"You guys ready to go?" I ask, pulling away from Fang, but lacing my hand through his, pulling us to the door.

"Yeah," Iggy says, taking Nudge's hand and leading her towards us.

When we get to the dance, we go to a table where all of our friends are sitting, besides Ella and Damon, and I can see them across the room at a table with some of Damon's friends.

I sigh, looking over at her until Fang puts his hand on my wrist.

"Just forget about drama for now." He says. "Isn't that why you wanted to come in the first place?"

I smile at him. "You're right." I say and I grab his hands and start pulling him out to the dance floor.

He looks less than thrilled about the dancing, and Iggy shoots him a smirk from across the table until Nudge grabs him and says, "Don't think you're getting out of dancing, buddy." She drags him onto the dance floor, close to us.

Iggy's face droops and I send him a _ha-ha_ face. He just rolls his eyes. We dance to a few fast songs and I surprisingly forget about everything, and I just have fun. It's like a load has been lifted off my shoulders. My ribs only hurt slightly because I packed up on the pain killers tonight.

Suddenly a slow song starts to play and I'm about to walk off the dance floor when Fang grabs my hand, pulling me close to him and he smirks when I make a face. I wasn't sure about slow dances.

He puts his hands on my waist and I put mine around his neck. We dance like that for a minute until Fang bends down and kisses me, making my world spin. We kiss for a few more seconds until I lay my head on his chest in pure bliss.

"Max, I love you." He whispers in my ear, completely catching my off guard. Where did this come from? He's never said it before.

But I don't have time to think about it. He's expecting a response.

"I-I . . .Fang, I—"

He cuts me off. "Max, I understand if it's too early. I know it's hard for you, because of Sam." He says this so understandingly, with such care.

But I was thinking something else. "No, Fang, I want to say this. I really do love you."

He captures me in a kiss, so passionately. We kiss until the song ends, me loving every second of it. When we get back to the table, everyone is sort of smirking at us, like they know what happened.

"Had fun with your little PDA scene over there?" Iggy asks jokingly. We just roll our eyes and ignore him.

Fang says he has to go to the bathroom, so I go get some punch. When I go to the table and put some punch in my cup, I accidently knock the cup over with the ladle. Punch spills all over the place, staining the white table cloth.

"Crap," I mutter to myself, trying to look for napkins. I see a napkin holder where, obviously the napkins were held. The punch is all over the table, so I figure I should go to a supply closet to see if there's any more napkins.

I go to the hall behind the ball room where the lights are sort of dimmed and I go to the nearest closet, opening the door. But what I see completely shocks me.

**Yeah, it wasn't my best chapter, I know. But sorry for the cliffie. And review and tell me what you think is in the closet. . . **


	21. Maxie

**Hey guys, lemme just tell you, the reviews are awesome. And proving that this next chapter is a real surprise, only one person actually thought of the real thing. Ha! So yay for that person, but I'm going to quit talking so y'all can read. . .**

I audibly gasp. It's Damon. Not just Damon. Ella, too. And it is not good. Ella is pushed up against the wall by Damon, mascara running down her face, due to the apparent tears she's crying. Damon is kissing her, his hands holding hers restrictively to the wall. I can see Ella struggling to get away, but it doesn't work. She stays firmly in place.

Apparently they don't hear my gasp, because Damon is still all over her. Rage suddenly fills me, remembering how helpless I felt when I was under Sam like that. This is how she must feel right now. Ella all of the sudden looks up at me, finally realizing I'm here. This apparently gives me the strength to move because before I can think, I'm running inside the closet, kicking the unknowing Damon in the back of his knee, causing him to dead leg, almost falling to the ground.

"What the f—" His outraged shout is cut off by me punching him square in the face, causing him to fall to the ground.

I grab Ella's arm from where she's standing stunned next to Damon and I drag her out of the closet as fast as I can, trying to get to other people, only to run into a hard chest. Ella bumps into me from behind, and I can hear her crying.

I look up and I'm about to run faster, but then I realize it's Ian. He notices Ella's teary face and he looks at me in alarm.

"Ian!" I say urgently. "Damon is in that closet, he tried to—" Before I can finish Ian is running into the closet and I run faster, leading Ella into the ball room, trying to find the guys.

Fang and Iggy are sitting lazily in their chairs. Nudge and J.J. are nowhere to be seen and I haven't seen Kevin tonight. The guys, seeing us running frantically over to them, get up as fast as they can.

"You guys need to go to the first closet on the right, behind the ball room!" I shout at them over the loud music.

Fang looks incredibly alarmed and Iggy just looks confused, probably not seeing Ella's tear-filled eyes in the darkness of the room.

"What's the matt—" I cut Iggy off.

"Just go! Now!" They run off. Meanwhile, Ella's trying not to break down in front of everyone. I gently take her wrist, pulling out a side entrance of the ball room. We walk to a secluded bathroom, one that's not public. I open up the door, pulling her in and I gently pull her onto the ground while I get up to get a wet napkin for her tears.

"Ella," I say quietly, turning on the sink and looking at her reflection through the mirror. "What the hell happened out there?"

Her body is shaking with sobs and she has her head buried in her hands. I get the napkin wet and turn off the sink, walking towards her and sitting right beside her, giving her the wet cloth. She looks up and takes the napkin and starts wiping her face furiously.

"I-I d-don't know, M-max," she says, stuttering with fear. "He w-was just asking m-me to help him get s-something off of his suit, c-cause he d-didn't want to have a stain where people can s-see it."

Okay, even _I_ think that's a lame excuse. But I don't say anything. I just grab her and hold her, she crying onto my shoulder.

"I didn't think about how lame the excuse was." She says, making me think how alike we are; we were just thinking the same thing.

I murmur comforting words to her while she lets it all out. She suddenly looks up at me.

"Max, I want to apologize," she says, her tears finally starting to dry. "You were kidnapped. Actually, I just realized that you were probably in the situation I was in a few seconds ago, only ten times worse. And you didn't freak out like this. I never realized how strong you are. But I want to say I'm sorry for how big of a bitch I was acting like the past few days."

"Ella," I say chuckling a little bit. "You don't need to apologize. I just realized that I've been acting horrible to you. And everyone else, for that matter. I was all too soon to blame it on the kidnapping, too. But I've been acting like that even before I got kidnapped. So I've decided I'm going to give you all full attention. We're going to do something next week. Just the girls. And we're going to try to get our friendship back, okay?"

She smiles at me. "Well you don't need to give us _full _attention, but I can definitely go for you actually checking up on me sometimes."

I nod, smiling and say, "So, speaking of checking up, what's this about Ian?"

She groans and leans her head back on the tiled bathroom wall. "Oh, that. I don't even know. I like him so much. He's my best friend."

"Well I think you can get him back now." I say supportively. "I bet he just kicked Damon's ass a few seconds ago."

Ironically, suddenly there's a knock at the door, causing us both to jump. I get up off the floor and crack the door open, just enough to see who it is. Hey look! It's Ian. He has a bloody lip, but that's the only visible injury on him.

"Is Ella in here?" He asks roughly.

I nod and open the door completely. Ella's looking at the floor, ashamed as Ian walks over to her and sits down.

"I'm just going to go. . ." I say quietly, going to give Ella a quick hug before I slip out the door silently.

When I get to the lobby, right outside the ball room, I notice there's a huge crowd surrounding the doors. Suddenly I'm engulfed in a big hug. I look up and Fang is looking me over, like he's inspecting me for injuries or something.

"Are you okay?" He asks, looking into my eyes.

I smile at his concern. "I'm fine, Fang. Shouldn't Ella be the one you're worried about?"

He does a face-palm and goes, "Oh man, how is she?"

"Well now, she's fine. She was a little shaken up at first but now she's good." I say. "But what's all of this?" I point to all of the people surrounding the door.

Then, I realize what they're doing. I see some people that look like paramedics pulling a stretcher with a bloodied and bruised Damon on it, passed out. I look at Fang in shock and he smirks.

"Well apparently after you got him down, Ian went in there to finish the business. When Iggy and I got there, we didn't even have to do anything. Ian took care of him."

I look up at him, not really surprised at all. "I knew Ian would kick his ass," I say, lacing my hand through his. "He loves her."

Fang pulls me even closer to him saying, "Not as much as _I_ love _you_."

* * *

The next week, Ella, J.J., Nudge and I all go to the mall and just walk around, talking to each other. Then, we go to get our nails done, making it a serious girls' day out. Ella was fine after the Damon scene. It turns out that Ian really helped her get over it. They still haven't gotten together, much to our dismay, but we figure it'll happen any minute. Nudge brought up the idea of getting them together, but I quickly shot that down. Since Ella already tried to make him jealous already, I figure it's one of those things that just has to happen itself.

We have a great time at the girls' day out and when I get home, I see a car that I don't recognize, which makes me worried. When I get in, I now realize who the _wonderful_ car-owner is.

"Hey there, Max!" squeals Victoria as I walk in the door. My face twists in disgust until I see Iggy, who's sitting next to her on the couch, give me a _be nice_ look.

"Hi," I say bitterly, walking over to the kitchen. She continues to try to converse with me.

"Ooo, I see little Maxie got her nails done, huh?" She says this like she's trying to taunt me or something.

I suddenly get mad, because of the newly found nickname for me. "Um, I would appreciate it if you _wouldn't_ call me that, thanks."

I say it in a real snobbish way, causing Iggy to give me a warning look. I glare at him right back. I'm not going to treat her any different just because she's his _special friend_.

Victoria doesn't notice my nasty tone and just goes back to watching the movie with Iggy calling over her shoulder, "Have an awesome day, Maxie!"

I basically stomp up the stairs, giving Iggy one last glare before I go up to my room. When I get to my room, I see a Fang lying on my bed, holding back laughter.

"Hey," I say, grumpily. "What're you doing here?"

He takes a look at my face and starts laughing so hard. It's probably the loudest and longest time I've ever heard him laugh. It brings a smile back to my face.

"Iggy let me in." He says, still sort of cracking up. "And that Veronica is just a charmer, _Maxie_."

**Alright, so there's the next one. I hope it was good. The real story is going to start soon, so all I have to say is get ready. Sorry, I've been keeping that in since the story started, basically. So anyways. . . Review? When it gets to the 300th review, I might give someone a preview of what's going to happen. It's far off, but just for future reference. . . **


	22. Veronica Sucks

**Hey guys, thanks for the awesome reviews. And yeah, I've been putting "Victoria" instead of "Veronica" by accident, and I have no idea where that's coming from. But sorry. Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

Fang stays over until for a while and we watch movies in my room, snuggled up on my bed. Of course, he can't resist teasing me about the 'Maxie' nickname, which pisses me off, but hey, I would too if someone was calling him "Fangy".

I walk him to the door before he leaves, seeing Veronica and Iggy on the couch. Veronica's all smiles, leaning slightly towards Iggy, a little close for my comfort. But I try to stay out of it, reminding myself that it's their business, not mine.

Veronica looks up as we're passing the living room and goes, "Oh, you're leaving, Fangy? It was nice to meet you!"

I have to put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing hysterically. Fang's mouth is in a straight line and I can see his jaw tighten when she calls him that. Even Iggy from beside her has trouble keeping a straight face.

Veronica is clueless as far as we know, keeping a big smile on her face while waiting for an answer from Fang. Fang clears his throat uncomfortably and says, "Uh, yeah. You too."

I pull him out the door before a laugh escapes from me. When we're outside, I start laughing so hard, my stomach is hurting and tears are coming out of my eyes. Fang is patiently waiting for me to calm down, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, alright, I think I'm done," I say but then one more round of laughter bursts out of me, and I cover my mouth. "Oh, man that was _priceless_."

Fang looks at me with amusement now, putting his hands on my shoulders and bringing me into his chest. "I guess that's what I get."

I chuckle a little more and rest my head on him, putting my arms around his waist. "Why does she have a need to do that? Is she annoying us on purpose?"

He strokes my hair absent-mindedly. "Who knows?"

At that moment, we hear the door open and there's this big annoying, "Awwwwwww" behind us. We can't ever get rid of this girl, can we?

We pull apart slightly and I look behind me, irritated. Veronica is standing there with Iggy, looking adoringly at us. Iggy just looks bored.

"Aw, Iggy, isn't that just so cute? It looks like us!" she squeals. Iggy suddenly doesn't look bored anymore. I turn around to Fang and we share an alarmed look. I turn back around to Iggy and he's looking startled, looking between me and Veronica.

"Well, I'm going to go. I'll see you cuties later!" And with that, she jumps off the porch and runs to her car, leaving us speechless on the front porch. I pull away from Fang and look at Iggy murderously.

"Well I'm going to go," Fang says, about to give me a kiss, but I put my hand on his arm.

"I think you need to stay here to make sure I don't do something drastic." I say, looking at Iggy the whole time.

Fang doesn't say anything but I can tell he's smirking behind me.

Iggy puts his arms up defensively and says, "Okay, honestly, I do not know where she got that from."

"Oh, yeah, like she just said that even though you two aren't really doing anything," I say sarcastically.

"Maybe she did!" he says. "She calls you Maxie, what else do you think she's capable of?"

I sigh, thinking maybe he's right. "You promise me you two aren't doing anything?"

He looks me right in the eyes and says, "I promise. We already went through this, okay? I told you that she wasn't worth losing Nudge over. I mean it. She just has the wrong idea or something." I search his eyes for anything false, but I can tell he's telling the truth.

"Alright, fine, but you need to tell her straight up. What if I was Nudge, hearing what she just said?"

He sighs, looking at the ground. "Alright, I'll tell her, I promise."

"Okay," I say, satisfied. I turn to Fang, smirking. "You can leave now."

He chuckles before bringing me to him again and putting his forehead against mine. I put my arms around his waist again, and I hear Iggy behind me go inside, mumbling something about "too much PDA around brothers" or something.

Fang chuckles, hearing him, before he leans down and kisses me. The kiss is gentle before we make it more passionate. He puts his hands on my lower back, pressing me against him. I have both of my hands in his hair, our lips moving in sync before the kiss gets even deeper. But then, I'm feeling a burning sensation in my ribs. I have to pull back.

We're both breathing hard, me holding my ribs. Fang sighs. "You okay? I forgot."

"Yeah, I wonder _why _you forgot," I say, smirking at him.

He rolls his eyes saying, "Okay, I guess I'll see you later, babe." He gives me a little kiss before walking over to his house. I wait till he's inside, waving at him, before I walk inside my house to get me some pain medicine.

* * *

That Sunday, I spend the day inside, buried in homework. I have lots of tests this week. I don't see anyone except Mom and Iggy, but only when I go downstairs to get something to eat. Iggy has Veronica over again, but then Nudge comes over as well, causing a little tension. Well, Veronica, of course, doesn't notice anything, but Nudge and Iggy are not acting the same as usual.

At around three o'clock when I'm almost done with my third essay for English, Nudge comes in my room.

She looks very un-Nudge-like. "That girl is pissing me off," she says while coming to sit on my bed beside me.

I look at her in surprise. Nudge usually doesn't make a big fuss about annoying people, but now she's beyond that.

"Oh no," I say cautiously. "What did she do?"

"Well first of all, she called me Nudgie. What the hell is that? And then, she's on the other side of Iggy, getting all close to him. Like, super close. And then, when Iggy left the room for a second, she was sort of acting weird." She says this last part in a weird way, like she's concentrating on something.

"Why?" I say, interested. "What did she say?"

"It's like she turned into someone else or something. She was acting all hostile."

Okay, what? That is definitely not the girl I met. "Are you sure, Nudge? She didn't act like that with me or Fang yesterday."

She looks at me seriously. "Yes, I know," she says, her voice getting harder. "But when it was just me and her in the room, her little perky attitude was gone and she was practically glaring at me."

I'm doubtful, but I don't think Nudge would lie to me about this.

"Well let me go down there with you and witness this for myself." I say. She smiles and we walk down stairs, seeing Iggy and Veronica close on the couch, and I see Nudge's jaw tighten a little.

Nudge sits on the other side of Iggy, getting closer to him than Veronica on purpose, and I sit on our big la-z boy next to the couch.

"You done with your homework?" Iggy asks, oblivious to Nudge's foul mood.

I nod stiffly, and he looks confused before looking back at the screen. We watch the movie for about twenty minutes before I decide to make my move.

"Hey, Iggy," I say, causing him to look up. "Would you go put my clothes in the dryer for me? I would, but my ribs hurt too much." It was actually true, but it was actually the perfect excuse. I knew Iggy would be all too willing to help me.

"Yeah sure, Max." He says, getting up and leaving.

The room is quiet except for the movie and I look over at Veronica. Nudge was right. She's basically glaring at Nudge, all traces of happiness gone from her face. It was so weird seeing her without that big smile, always calling someone 'cute' or adding an 'ie' to the end of someone's name.

"So what's goin on there, Veronica?" I ask casually.

She looks at me, keeping her glare. "None of your business, _Maxie_." She says it like Bridget used to, very hostile.

"_Excuse _me?" I ask, completely shocked. Now, Nudge's suspicions are definitely confirmed. Nudge and I share a stunned look, surprised that she actually has the nerve to act like that if front of Iggy's girlfriend and sister.

"You heard me. I know why you came in here. You guys don't want me to steal Iggy away." She says, looking at Nudge.

Nudge isn't usually one for confrontation, but right now, apparently something snaps in her. "You're damned right I don't want you to steal him away. But you're not because he wants _me_. What's it going take for you to realize it?"

Veronica suddenly gets up and gets in Nudge's face. Nudge gets up, causing her to back up a little. I'm still sitting in my chair, silently watching. I'm wondering when I'm going to have to break this up.

"Does it _look_ like he wants you? He's in her basically snuggling with me on the couch while you're in your friend's room," she points at me angrily, "crying to her about it. What kind of guy that _wants_ you would do that, huh?"

Nudge looks outraged. "You are way out of line!" she shouts. "I think you need to mind your own business, ho!"

"What the hell is this?" It's Iggy. He appears from the hallway, a furious look on his face. He looks at me, silently asking what happened. I just shake my head.

Veronica looks up and her perky façade comes back up, but she looks pouty. "I think I'm going to go. I can see I'm not welcome here," she says with a whiny voice. She starts to grab her purse.

Iggy suddenly grabs her arm saying, "No, you don't have to go. I can see what really happened." He turns to Nudge. "I can't believe you had the nerve to talk to her like that."

Nudge looks taken aback, as am I. Iggy must not have heard what Veronica said before Nudge said it.

"Iggy," Nudge says. "You don't know what you heard." I don't think she wants to fight in front of us so she keeps it short.

"Oh I heard enough." While he says this, he walks to his room calling over his shoulder, "Veronica, I'll call you later. Maybe you should go."

With that, Veronica walks out the door with a smirk on her face, leaving us stunned in the middle of the living room.

**So i might not update in a while because school starts in a week and I have yet to do my summer homework. So, just review! **

**Peace out**


	23. Iggy's Dilemma

**Alright guys, I couldn't resist writing one more chapter before I bury myself in my homework. :D Sorry it's short, but my mom's making me go to bed -_-**

I look at Nudge, shock clear on my face. "What just happened?"

She's looking down at the ground depressingly, shaking her head. "I don't know, but I'm going to go home."

I'm outraged. "What? Nudge, we need to go in there and kick his ass!" I yell, getting up out of the chair and walking towards her.

She starts walking to the front door. "No, Max," she says, turning around to look back up at me. "He obviously chose who wanted when he did that." She says this fiercely, but she has tears in her eyes.

"But Nudge, he didn't hear the whole story. He just came in here when you called her a ho. This is going to hurt him when he finds out what he did." Like I said, Iggy isn't great with relationships. Nudge is his only serious relationship so far.

I tear runs down Nudge's face. "Look at _me_, Max. _I'm_ hurt. And _he_ did it. So if you don't mind, I'm leaving." With this, she walks out of the house, tears running down her face. Well, crap.

Okay, so I'm pissed. My brother just broke my best friend's heart. I am on a mission. I am on a mission to kick Iggy's ass.

I run up to his room as fast as I can without hurting my ribs and storm inside his room. He's on his computer, like nothing happened a few seconds ago. He turns around when I open the door and he looks startled, I'm guessing by my facial expression. I march right up to him.

"What the _hell_ was that?" I shout, leaning over slightly so that I'm right in his face in his computer chair.

He looks a little frightened by me but he goes, "Look, Max, I know she's your best friend, but you don't have to defend her every time something happens in our relationship."

How does he even have the _nerve_ to ask that? "Iggy!" I shout loudly, causing him to sink into his chair. "You don't even know what happened, and you're immediately just shutting Nudge out? What is _wrong_ with you? And the only reason why I'm defending her is because she won't do it herself because _you're_ the one that broke her heart. And now you have to deal with me." I say all of this in one breath, still furious with him.

"First of all, I'm not shutting Nudge out!" he yells, getting up so that he's taller than me. "She insulted my friend! Veronica helped me majorly when I needed someone the most. Now, when I decide to let her back in my life, you guys just freak out and start victimizing her." He says this last part with lots of emotion. He actually cares about Victoria. And one thing I know about people, is that you don't think there's anything wrong with someone if you love them. Iggy loves her like a sister. It's obvious.

"Iggy," I say, a little quieter now. "You weren't there for the first half of the conversation! Do you know what she did when she left the room? Her little perkiness personality was gone. There was no more 'Maxie' and 'cutie'. She got up and started threatening Nudge like there was no tomorrow. You should've seen what she said. She thinks you like her as more than a friend."

Iggy's face is skeptical. "Veronica would never do that. She's the nicest person I know."

I raise my voice again, angrier. "Who are you going to believe, Iggy? Your twin and your girlfriend or a girl you met months ago, when you were having a bad day?"

He looks doubtful still, shaking his head and looking down at the floor. "I just. . . Don't know."

Okay, you know how I said a while back that that was the maddest I've ever been at Iggy? Well, this tops it. "I can't believe you!" I scream. "Don't you know what you're doing to Nudge? She thinks you chose Veronica over her!"

He's still looking at the floor but I'm too angry to look at his face. "You're. . . You're right," he says quietly, and when I look at his face, it's the same look that Nudge had on her face before she left the house.

"You're damned right I am," I say seriously. "Now, you need to fix all of this crap. If Nudge even takes you back."

"Are you serious?" he asks urgently, looking at me with wide eyes. "She was talking about breaking up with me?"

I look up at him, shrugging without sympathy. "You broke her heart. If Fang did that to me, I don't know what I would do."

He goes back to his bed and lays on it, muttering, "Shit. . . Shit, shit, shit."

I look at him, rolling my eyes. "Yeah. You're in it."

He keeps muttering "shit" over and over again, rolling around on his bed. I'm sick of this.

"Iggy," I say sternly, causing him to look up at me. "If you're going to fix this, you can't do it from your bed. You need to go over to Nudge's house right now and beg for forgiveness. I'm not kidding." I grab him and drag him off the bed. He looks nervous.

"Max, I-I don't know if I can do this." He stutters, his face getting visibly sweaty.

"Iggy, do you love Nudge?" I ask, my hand still holding his arm.

He nods, seemingly gathering up some courage.

"Then you will go over there and get her back. Because I'm not going to do it for you."

He looks determined and starts walking out the door before turning back and saying with a smile, "Thanks, Max. I couldn't have done it without you."

I smirk and nod, and with that he's out the door to get his girlfriend back.

**Alright so there's the next one. I felt sorry for y'all because I just left it like that and some of you were wanting the next one pretty fast, so I just wrote this real quick. But I'll be writing more in a few days. Homework is killer! But anyway, please review :D**

** Peace out :P**


	24. Desperate

**Hey guys, I was able to write some more :D I was going to give the 300th reviewer a preview, but then I realized it wouldn't make sense because I'm probably going to update really soon cause I already have most of the next chapter written. Also, I wanted to thank all of the awesome reviewers! They make my day, for real. Thanks, you guys! So with that, here's the next chapter...**

I'm in my room while Iggy is gone drawing a picture of Fang and I from memory. It's the first serious picture I've done in a while. I'm just shading the picture when the door opens and a heavy body plops on my bed faced-down. Iggy groans into my pillows.

Oh, great. I wonder what he did now. "What happened, Iggy?" I say tiredly but gently.

He lifts his head from the pillow and his face is devastated. I try not to feel sorry for him because this is basically all his fault, but I can't help it. He looks so defeated.

"She said. . . That if I want to get her back, I have to tell Veronica that I don't like her and to lay off of Nudge. Oh, and you."

I put down my pencil and turn away from my desk to face him on my bed. All of my sympathy is gone again. "And are you not capable of doing that? Nudge is being a saint compared to what I would do."

He looks up at me and says, "Well, I just don't want to hurt Veronica's feelings."

"What about _Nudge's_ feelings?" I counter.

He sighs and puts his head back on my pillows. I stand up and rip the pillow out from under him.

"What's it going to take you to realize that you're not going to have Nudge if you don't do that? One of those girls can't have you and you need to choose one. You act like you want Nudge at first and then you don't even try that hard to get her back!" I'm trying to knock some sense into him, and it doesn't seem to be working.

He sits up on my bed, looking down, not yelling back, and just talking in a normal voice. "I don't like Veronica and you know that. But you don't know how I feel. Veronica is like another sister to me. It's going to be hard to do it."

"Well you're going to have to suck it up and do it. Because otherwise you're just stringing Nudge along."

He sighs again and lies back on the bed.

"Iggy, I'm tired of having this conversation over and over. It's simple. If you want Nudge, then you will do what she wants." I say, talking at a normal volume.

He doesn't say anything, and he just walks out of my room, sighing.

* * *

The next day at school is awkward. Iggy still hasn't told Veronica, which makes me not talk to him, so Fang and I are sitting next to Nudge today at lunch. Nudge is silent which is immensely unusual, and I put my hand on her arm, silently giving her an encouraging smile, letting her know that I'm here for her. She smiles back a little bit, but she still doesn't say anything.

This unfortunately makes the table slightly awkward, because Iggy and Nudge are usually the ones that start conversations here. Fang definitely isn't talkative, I'm just here and I'll probably make things even more awkward when I try to talk, Ella and Ian are just quietly talking to themselves, and finally J.J. and Kevin aren't here, probably in the library or something. This combination makes a not-so-awesome lunch table. The rest of lunch goes like this, silent as ever, Fang and I giving each other looks every few seconds.

Now, it's after school and Fang is over at our house, and we're watching a movie. I'm leaning my head on his chest and he has his hands tightly around my waist. About half-way through the movie, Iggy comes downstairs and sits on the chair by the couch, not saying anything to us.

I ignore him and continue to watch the movie until I hear the doorbell ring. Fang and I share a look, wondering who it is. Iggy looks worried as he opens the door.

Veronica comes hopping in, hugging Iggy, and going, "Hey, Fangy! Maxie." Her excited smile goes down when she says my name, and Iggy definitely notices.

"Ohh, hey, _Veroniky_," I say with smugness. I can feel Fang silently shaking below me with laughter. Iggy cracks a smile from the doorway. Veronica looks slightly annoyed, but when Iggy turns his back on her to walk back into the living room, she shoots me a full out glare. Fang looks at me shocked, and I sit up and give her a mocking _bring it on_ look, and she looks even angrier.

I smirk at her and lean back against Fang again, calm as ever. Iggy doesn't notice this exchange, much to my disappointment. When he turns back towards us, I give him the _you better do it _look. He knows what I mean. Iggy and Veronica sit on the big chair, and it's quiet.

Suddenly, Iggy gets a determined look on his face and goes, "Hey, Veronica, can I talk to you in my room for a second?"

She hops up from the chair and squeals, "Of course, Iggy." I can hear the false tone to her cheeriness. Only other girls would be able to hear that. She's one of those girls who act all perky and excited in front of guys and then in front of girls, she acts all bitchy. And I really don't like girls like that.

They walk off into Iggy's room, and I look behind me to see Fang shaking his head at me with a smirk on his face.

"What?" I ask, turning around so that I'm sitting on his lap, resting my hands on his shoulders, smiling.

"You're so sneaky," he says, causing me to laugh and I smack him on his arm playfully.

"I know. But that was so un-Fang-like. What's up with you?" I ask, putting my forehead on his.

He doesn't say anything, he just leans forward to kiss me. One of his hands is on my thigh and the other is on my waist. Both of my hands are cupping his face, bringing him closer to me. My lips part and he slips his tongue inside my mouth. Just when it's getting good, we hear a shout and a door slam upstairs, causing us to break apart.

It's Veronica. She comes running downstairs, an outraged expression on her face. Looks like her cover is blown. She's looking at me angrily, and when she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she starts walking swiftly to the door. I get off of Fang's lap and Iggy comes barreling down the stairs.

"Veronica, you don't have to leave!" He shouts, running towards her.

She turns around, glaring at him and I step closer to them, wondering what's going on. I hear Fang get up from behind me.

"Why?" She screams at Iggy. "So your slut of a girlfriend and your bitch of a sister can come yell at me again?" Okay, first of all, she still hasn't confessed to Iggy that she started the fight? And second of all, what the hell did she just say?

Iggy's about to yell at Veronica, but I step in front of him and walk closer to her. She's smirking at me.

"What did you just say?" I say, quietly but threateningly.

She steps forward, and she's about three inches shorter than me. I look down slightly. She still doesn't look intimidated.

"Oh, you heard me. You. Are. A. Bitch." She drags the last word out long, getting in my face. I can feel nervous vibes from behind me, probably Iggy.

I know this is when you're gonna say I should punch her or something, but no. Not yet, at least.

I bark out a laugh, making her look confused and I smirk at her. "You think calling me a bitch is the biggest thing you can come up with? At least I'm not some slut who's trying to steal a boy from his girlfriend, who is, might as well add in here, two years younger than you. Wow. You must be _really_ desperate to steep _that_ low."

She looks as pissed as ever, and she reaches her hand up to slap me in the face, but I'm already expecting it. I grab her arm right before it hits my face and her face is completely shocked but angry at the same time. Iggy gasps from behind me and I smirk right in Veronica's face. She tries to rip her arm away from mine, but my grip tightens and I lean right in her face.

"Nice try, Veroniky!" I whisper with fake perkiness. I lead her to the door. "Now, I think it's time you leave now, okay? Good!"

I open the door and let her arm go and she goes out the door, screeching like an idiot.

I turn back around to the guys and Iggy is looking at me with shock and Fang is looking at me admiringly.

"And that, my boys," I say, slapping my hands together as if wiping off dirt, "is how you get rid of a boyfriend-stealing ho."

Fang says playfully, "You are my _hero_."

We start laughing hard, and I'm actually surprised when Iggy joins in. Maybe he's finally seeing Veronica for who she really is.

**So there's that and I'll have the next chapter up really soon. Review and tell me what you think!**


	25. Packing

**Hey guys, yes, I do realize I stopped my everyday updates. :[ But I'm getting ready for school to start and I've been super busy. And when school starts, I'll most likely only update on the weekends, as much as it pains me to say it. But, I'll try! So here's the next chapter. **

Iggy goes that day to Nudge's house and tells her what happened. After much begging and apologizing on Iggy's part, they finally get back together. We're all immensely excited for them, and they're acting more lovey-dovey than ever before.

A few weeks pass. Fang and I definitely closer, though we still haven't gone all the way yet. My ribs barely hurt by now, and I can finally stop hurting every out-of-ordinary movement I make. Ella and Ian still aren't together, but they have gotten closer ever since the homecoming dance fiasco with Damon. J.J. and Kevin are still together, and they are really happy. All of the girls and I spend lots of time together as well. Overall, life was pretty amazing.

It's finally time for the art scholarship program. Like I said, I can bring one person with me, and I was planning on Iggy going with me and its three days before I have to go, but apparently he has other plans.

"But that's the day I wanted to take Nudge out somewhere special," he says, looking at me pleading.

I sigh and look back up at the ceiling. "Iggy," I say tiredly. "Who is supposed to go with me? Ella is busy with something, Mom is going to be at work, its J.J. and Kevin's two month anniversary, and who else is there to ask?"

He looks apologetically down at me and goes, "Oh, I don't know, Bridget?" He snickers, seeing the look on my face.

I glare at him and say, "Ha-ha, very funny."

"Well, why don't you ask Fang?" He asks seriously.

Hmm. At first, I ruled him out right away because he's a boy, but they are going to have chaperones in the dorms. And we only have to miss one day of school. There's no reason why Mom or his parents wouldn't let him go.

I smile gratefully up at Iggy. "Maybe I will."

He smirks and I run over to Fang's house and knock on his door.

Angel is there, looking excitedly up at me. "Hi, Max!"

I smile down at her and give her a little hug. "Hey, Ange. Where's your biggest brother?"

She smiles and says in the cutest voice ever, "In his room."

I smile wider, patting her head saying, "Alright, see you later, sweetie."

I run up the stairs to Fang's room, knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" I hear him call from inside his room. He's probably on his computer.

"Your worst nightmare," I say in a deep voice, wearing a mischievous grin on my face.

I see his door open and Fang's grinning at me and he puts his arms around my waist, bringing me close.

"That doesn't sound like a nightmare to me," he whispers, walking backwards into his room, pulling me with him.

I don't answer, and I lean forward to kiss him. We start really getting into it, him backing up so that his knees hit the bed, making us fall over so that I'm on top of him, still kissing. He smiles against my lips, and I pull back to get some air. He's kissing my neck and my hands are knotted in his hair. He pulls me back to his lips and his hands start going to my lower back, resting on the exposed skin at my back. He starts to slip his hand under my shirt, going up my back, but I pull back slightly, breathing hard. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this. He looks up at me with his emotion-less mask, but his eyes reveal excitement.

"Whoa," I say, still lying on top of him, a little bit light-headed.

"I know," he says, revealing a half-smile. "Where did that come from?"

I grin saying, "I don't know. I'm just in a good mood, I guess."

He moves some hair in my face to behind my ears. "Well you should be in a good mood more often," he says, with a mischievous look on his face.

I laugh, hitting his shoulder. "Oh yeah! I remember why I actually came here now." I say. I actually did forget about that, just because I had a little make-out session with Fang. Man, am I a goner.

"And what's that?" he asks, putting his arms around me. I'm still lying on top of him.

"Well," I reply hesitantly, wondering if he really wants to go. "Iggy all of the sudden bailed on me with going to Houston because of Nudge, and none of the other girls can go with me, or my mom. So, basically I have no one to go with."

His smile grows wider, probably knowing what I'm going to ask. "And . . .?"

"So. . . Do you want to go with me?" I ask, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You'll only miss one day of school and there will be chaperones there, so your parents most likely won't mind. It won't cost any money, unless you want some spending money, cause we're going to have to drive there. And, a plus is that you'll get to spend three days with me."

He responds by giving me a peck on the lips. "Of course I'll go with you."

"Thanks, babe," I say, getting off of him, pulling him up with me so we're standing next to his door. He smiles at me in return.

"Well, I'd love to stay here and continue whatever that was before," I say this while raising my eyebrow suggestively, "but, I gotta go pack. And you should too."

"Alright," he says, pulling me into a hug. "I'll go ask my mom if I can go."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." I give him one more kiss before I go.

* * *

It's later in the day and I'm packing for Houston. I think the trip is going to be very beneficial to me. I'm still not sure what I want to do with my life, but I think art could play a major part in it. Art has been the only thing to really interest me, and this scholarship program is going to make me better.

As I'm anticipating the event, a knock sounds from the door.

"Come in," I say, folding a shirt and putting it in my suitcase.

Mom comes in and sits on my bed. "You packing for Houston?" She asks, kind of looking guilty.

I smile at her. "Yeah, I'm so excited."

She smiles back weakly and says, "Listen, Max, I wanted to talk to you about that. I never officially apologized about that. About how I freaked out when you first told me about the program."

My smile goes down, remembering that day. It was the day that she slapped me, and it was my breaking point.

She looks down at the bed saying, "I want to say I'm sorry for that." She shakes her head sadly. "I didn't know how much you loved art. Not that that would've mattered. You know how I was back then. But, it just made me so mad that Jeb did that with you and I did nothing. Even before Jeb left, we weren't very close. It made me so jealous. But now I know that you're happy and that's all that matters."

I smile at her in a sad way and say, "Thanks, Mom. You don't know how much that means."

She smiles and gets up to give me a hug. I hug back hard. "I love you," she says into my hair.

"Love you too." I say, happy that I'm finally able to say it to her and really meaning it.

She pulls back and starts helping me pack, folding some clothes and slipping them inside my suitcase.

"So what's this about Fang going with you?" She asks with a little smirk on her face.

I roll my eyes. Iggy must've told her. "Yes, Fang's going with me."

Her smile gets wider and she goes, "You guys are getting pretty serious, aren't y'all?"

"Mom, I promise we're not going to do anything, there's going to be chaperones." This conversation is getting a little uncomfortable for me.

"There's not going to be chaperones in your rooms, though. They're just going to be there to make sure you won't get hurt." She has a point.

I sigh. "Okay, you're right, but Fang and I aren't going to do anything. Trust me."

She smiles. "I know. I trust you."

I smile back at her and say, "Thanks."

She nods and we go back to packing for the trip.

**Yeah, that was sort of a filler chapter, but I wanted to go ahead and post it. I'll update probably once more before school starts. Review, if you please? :]**


	26. Art Scholarship

**Alright guys, I didn't get to update before school. -_- I was finishing last minute summer homework. But the first week of school, and I am nearly dying here from all of the work. It's ridiculous. I don't know how many times I'm going to be able to update a week or month, but just know that when I get ANY amount of time, I will be working on on this story. So enough waiting, here's the next one.**

Three days later, we're in Houston. I had been here before once when I was a kid, but I never really realized how big it is. Most people would say it's not that big of a deal, but the city looked pretty cool because of all of the huge buildings and skyscrapers.

Now, Fang and I are getting ourselves situated in our hotel room. The school rented out the hotel just for us so the chaperones could know who all is actually doing the program. Fang and I share a room, but we have separate beds.

"Hey, why do they even have chaperones if this is a co-ed thing?" Fang asks, jumping to lay flat on his back on the bed, holding a brochure that I got at this morning's orientation.

"Well." I say, smiling down at him. "Since this is like something we get to do, and not an in-school thing, I guess they feel they don't have the right to control us like that. And most of the other people are bringing their parents."

"Hmm," he mumbles, looking through the orientation brochure. The days ahead are planned out for us by the school. The first day, which is today, we get to go and take some classes, dealing with all kinds of art and then after the classes, we get to go around the city and take pictures of anything we want to. The second day, we use the pictures we're taking today, and the art professors help us with our art pieces one on one, and we create our show pieces for the third day, which is the final art show.

The whole point of the art show is that we get to show what we can do in just one day, while getting judged on it. The judges select three students to get scholarships to the fine arts college of their choice. I don't really think I'll win, just because there are some amazing other people here. I'm almost intimidated, but I won't let that come in the way of my work.

All of the people who aren't doing the art program, such as Fang, gets to basically do whatever they want while we're in classes today and tomorrow.

Fang decides to stay in while I go to my classes, because he's pretty tired from the trip down here. It was about six hours and he drove all the way, due to the fact that it was his car. I couldn't bring Mom's because she was using it, so we had no other choice.

I go through my classes, one just a basic drawing session that lasts about two hours. We go through lots of different lessons, most of which I already know. This stuff is in any normal art class at school, only a little more complex.

Another class is a pottery lesson, and it lasts about three hours. We get to use the pottery clay and make some vases on the pottery wheel; well at least I _try_ to make one. Mine falls apart on the wheel the first time, but I get the hang of it after that, although my vase doesn't really show it. Mine looks more like a deformed mug without the handle. But overall, the class is pretty awesome. I never thought I would like something like this, but I'm actually really interested in it.

We have lunch and then we have one more class that we get to pick and I pick a painting class. I've always liked painting the most out of everything I do, I guess because I'm best at it.

All of the classes are very beneficial for me, and it makes me more interested than I've ever been in art. All of the instructors are amazing. They're so passionate about their work; the way they talk about art is almost moving.

The other kids here are really good, so good that I'm not all that confident that I even have a chance at winning one of the scholarships. Some of them come up to me, and I actually get along with them, so I try to stick with them throughout the lessons. I meet these really cool kids named Gabe and Amie, who are twins like Iggy and I. At the end of our classes, we exchange numbers and e-mails, planning on keeping in touch. They live in Houston, which is pretty cool.

When I'm done with all of the classes, and it's the afternoon, Fang and I go sight-seeing around the city so I can get some pictures for tomorrow.

"Is there even anything to do here?" Fang asks, as we're getting in his car to leave the hotel.

I buckle my seat belt, looking over at him and nodding. "Actually, there are a lot of things to do. I didn't think there would be, but Mom told me lots of places we can go."

He looks mildly surprised and he goes, "Alright, what's the first place?"

I pull out the brochure that Mom had given me before I left and I look at the first picture. "Uh, the Galleria."

His face is confused as he pulls out of the parking lot. "What's that?"

"Apparently," I say, reading the caption at the bottom of the picture. "It's this giant mall with an ice skating rink in the middle of it."

We look at each other, with surprised interest. This is way different from what we have in Dallas. Sure we have malls and ice skating rinks, but not put together. But I'm definitely not going ice skating though. I went once and I paid for it with some major bruises on me. Not my idea of a good time.

"Alright," he says, pulling his eyes back to the road. "The Galleria, it is."

I smile slightly and lean back to enjoy the ride. I tell Fang how to get there, and we're about half way there when he goes, "Hey, Max, isn't that an awesome sculpture?" He slows the car down so I can look at where he's pointing.

He points across the street to where a giant sculpture is sitting. It's this big metal one, with two huge pieces of metal twisted around each other, but it looks really smooth, not like normal metal wood. I can't see it that well because we're driving, but I want to see it closer.

"Fang, let's go over there," I say, causing him to look at me with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Over where?" He asks, confused. I roll my eyes. I point behind us, where we're driving away from.

"The sculpture! I wanna go see it better. I can get some pictures too."

He makes a U-turn on the next traffic light, and we make our way back to the beauty. There's benches all around it and there's a little walking trail and a pond next to it.

I walk over and get close, taking snaps of pictures in all different angles, trying to get a good one for me to draw tomorrow. When I'm done, I walk over to Fang and he's smiling at me admiringly. I smile back at him, confused.

"What?" I ask, wrapping my arms around his waist. He starts walking us backward to the car, running his hands through my hair.

He just shakes his head at me, still smiling in that cute way. I was right. This can't get any better.

* * *

We spend the rest of the day just going to lots of places in Houston, and I get lots of pictures to choose from for tomorrow. We go to the Galleria and we have a lot of fun there, looking at all of the stores and Fang even buys Angel and Gazzy some souvenirs.

After we get done there, we drive around downtown so I can take pictures of the skyscrapers and people living their everyday lives, walking down the streets. Yeah, that just sounded incredibly creepy, but you would just have to see the pictures. They're great for me to make artwork out of.

After that, we go to Galveston. The beach there isn't all that clear blue, but it's way better than something we have in Dallas, obviously. The city itself is actually a really pretty place. There are tons of tourist stops and things to do. It almost makes me want to come here on vacation one day.

One really cool place we go to is sort of like an old-time down town that has a huge chess board outside. The chess board is literally as big as my front and back yard put together. I had never seen something like that before. Fang and I were genuinely shocked when we had turned the corner, and there was this giant thing right in front of our eyes. I take a few pictures of that, and we keep walking.

We eat dinner late there and then we finally go back to the hotel, late at night. The night goes by smoothly, Fang and I just giving each other a sweet kiss before we sleep in our allotted beds.

The next morning, I'm at the art school, getting all of my pictures spread out to choose from, at my table. Fang decided to stay in the hotel room for now, but I'm sure he's going to go somewhere after about 2 hours of boredom. I'm going to be here till two o'clock and its ten right now.

"Max!" I hear two voices call out from behind me and I turn around quickly, only to find Gabe and Amie, the new people I met yesterday. Gabe is actually really good-looking with short black hair and a cool sense of style. Amie looks just like Gabe, only in girl form, very pretty with long curly black hair.

"Hey!" I say, actually excited to see a face I know. This place has lots of kids and I only made sort- of friends with them.

When they reach me, Amie runs to give me a huge hug, and I hug back stiffly. I'm not really one for hugging non-family or non-Fang persons unless I'm super close with them.

Gabe rolls his eyes from behind her and I smile at him. Amie pulls away, giving me a bright smile. She sometimes reminds me of Nudge in a way.

"Ooh, Max I see you have your pictures out!" Amie says, looking at all of my pictures on the table, occasionally brining one up to look at it closer.

Gabe walks over to the table, looking down as well. "Yeah, these are really good. I can't wait to see them on paper."

I smile saying, "Thanks guys. Fang and I went to all these places yesterday after the classes."

I had told them all about Fang yesterday and we talked about lots of other stuff. I was surprised how fast I got to know them, considering how it usually takes me a few weeks to make a new friend. Maybe it was a twin thing or something, but we all got along great.

"Awesome," Gabe says, turning back around to face me.

I nod and suddenly, a teacher comes on the mic and says, "Alright, guys, we're ready to start the last day of actually working. The professors are going to be making trips around the room to give you some guidance about your art pieces. We're ready to start, so good luck to everyone!"

Gabe and I roll our eyes at the over-excited lady's voice. Amie just looks immensely eager.

"Alright, we should go back to our tables," Amie says, grabbing Gabe's arm and dragging him away. Gabe's hip bumps into my table on the way out, and he stops and grabs his side, yelping with surprise.

Amie bursts out laughing and I have trouble keeping my laughter in as well. Finally, after seeing Gabe's look of fake betrayal, I can't keep it in and I laugh my ass off.

"He…Always…Does…That…" Amie says in between laughter, causing us to crack up even more. My stomach is hurting so much from the laughing, that I almost have to force myself to stop. I put my hands on my knees, catching my breath.

"Oh…Man," I gasp. "Oh, man that was good."

Now, it's Gabe that drags Amie away, who's still laughing, giving me a _you'll pay for that_ look.

"See you guys later!" I call, smirking at Gabe.

* * *

That day goes by fast and I get all of my work done. I end up drawing a big poster of the art piece that Fang and I saw on the road. It turns out pretty well, and I get lots of compliments on it from some of the kids that are here with me. Another one I do is a painting of the giant chess board, and that's my personal favorite. My last one is a picture of the Houston skyline. It's a drawing with just pencils, and I think it's pretty good, if I do say so myself. The professors that walked around to help us actually helped a lot. They each critiqued my work and gave me tips to make it better.

Fang and I go see a movie after I get back, as weird as that sounds. I guess we're just too busy at home to go see a movie there.

It's now right before the art show and Fang and I are inside, setting up my art pieces for the judges, in some nice clothes, appropriate for these kinds of things.

"You nervous?" Fang asks, putting one of my drawings on a canvas.

I smile at his concern. "Sort of. Whatever happens, happens, I guess."

He nods. "Well, it looks like its show time." I look at the time, and indeed, the judging starts right now.

After about five minutes, I see the judges finally making their way around the art tables, and my hands start to sweat and I feel my forehead sort of get clammy. Whoa, I didn't realize how nervous I could get over this.

I feel Fang grab one of my hands and he wraps it in both of his, pulling me closer to him. "Relax," he whispers in my ear. "You'll be fine."

I take a deep breath and pat down my hair. At that moment, the judges get to my table, causing me to pull away from Fang and I smile brightly. There's three of them, two woman and one man, each of them smiling politely at me.

"Hi, I'm Maximum," I say, reaching to grab each of their hands in a business-like handshake.

"Nice to meet you," One of the ladies says, and they start inspecting my art pieces intently. I see them writing things down on their clipboards, their faces completely blank.

"Alright, looks like we're done here," says the man. "Great job, Miss Ride."

I nod with a smile. They all nod back at me and leave my table, whispering to themselves. I watch them go to the next table, and it's Gabe. He's looking incredibly nervous, and I shoot him a thumbs up. He smiles back weakly.

Fang comes up from behind and puts his arms around my waist. "See, that wasn't so bad."

I smile up at him and give him a kiss on the cheek.

* * *

Okay, it's the awards ceremony. Right before they announce the official winner, they give out some other extra awards. I don't win any of them, but I don't really care. I'm just here for the experience. Of course, I tell myself that, but then there's this tiny bit of hope in the back of my head.

One of the lady judges comes up on stage and smiles down at the audience. Fang clutches my hand in his and gently rubs his thumb against my palm.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this year has been very successful. We want to thank everyone that was invited to be here. It is truly a privilege to be here." She goes on and on about the school and the scholarship program, until she finally gets to the scholarships. "Alright, now that that's done, now for the moment you've all been waiting for."

The audience goes warily silent; every parent in the place leaning in their seats, hoping that their child will prove that they're the best. I lean back in my seat, trying to calm myself, so I won't get my hopes up.

"The third place scholarship to the fine arts school of their choice, $2,000, goes to Amie Dallowell." The crowd, as well as me, erupts in applause. I'm so happy for her. Amie stands up and goes onto the stage, standing next to one of the judges, smiling wider than I ever have before.

Once the applause has died down, the judge continues. "The second scholarship, $5,000, to any fine art school goes to Edwin Garcia." I don't know him, but I clap anyway. Oh, well. My chance is probably ruined, but I really did have a good experience here.

The judge opens an envelope and looks back to the audience. "For the last one, and the first place scholarship of a full ride to any fine arts school goes to Maximum Ride."

I am shocked. I have never really won anything in my life, much less a complete ride to a fine arts college. I'm almost so shocked that I don't move. I'm aware of the audience around me applauding, Gabe yelling out my name, and Amie jumping up and down on stage.

"Max!" Fang says loudly, pushing me up from the chair and gently pushing me towards the stage. My daze sort of goes away and I walk up the stage, not stopping a huge smile starting to form on my face.

* * *

Fang, Gabe, Amie, and I are at dinner, celebrating Amie and I winning. Gabe wasn't the least bit disappointed that he didn't win a scholarship. He did get an honorable mention.

In the middle of dinner, I hear the Forever the Sickest Kids ringtone again, and I look at my phone, only to see Iggy calling. I smile. He must be calling to congratulate me.

"Oh, I'm going to take this outside," I say to the others, walking out of the restaurant.

When I answer it, I'm confused. "M-max?" Iggy says shakily.

"…Yes?" I ask in a whisper, my worry going full-blown.

"M-max, you n-need to get here. Now." He sounds like he could almost be crying. My heart turns to ice and I feel my whole body go numb.

"I'll be there soon." I snap my phone shut and go inside to get Fang.

**Alright, I know you guys hate cliffies, but I really want y'all to review about what happened before the cliffie AND about the cliffie. I worked hard on that stuff! :] So please give me a little reward for giving you a long chapter? Thanks guys, and I say this loosely, I'll update whenever I can. -sigh- Review!**


	27. Drastic

**Hey guys, get ready for the classic "I'm so sorry i haven't updated in forever" author speech: I'VE BEEN SO BUSY. But I am sorry about leaving it as a cliffhanger and then not continuing...That was cruel I'll admit. Anyway, there was something I wanted to say. I got this review that kind of bothered me, and I wanted to clear things up a bit. I want you guys to know that I wouldn't write about anything I don't know about, such as Houston and Galveston, in the last chapter. I've actually been to both of those places many times in my life, even after the hurricane, so I know what it looks like and what's there. So yeah, just wanted to say that little speech there. So enough waiting, here's the next chapter...**

"_M-max, you n-need to get here. Now." He sounds like he could almost be crying. My heart turns to ice and I feel my whole body go numb._

"_I'll be there soon." I snap my phone shut and go inside to get Fang._

As I'm running inside, I can feel my face flushed and I'm shaking slightly. It's like I'm in a daze. I don't look at the people around me, and I'm vaguely aware of whizzing past tables, knocking over things and some not very happy people, but right now, I couldn't care less. As I'm a few feet away from the table, I see Amie and Gabe look up at me, worried as hell. Fang's back is to me, so he can't see the way I'm freaking out.

When I get there, I pull Fang up from his chair, him sort of tripping over it.

"What's going on?" Gabe asks urgently, getting ready to get up from his chair. Amie nods from beside him, an immensely nervous look on her face.

Fang brings himself upright and they all look at me, expectantly awaiting an answer.

"T-there's something wrong with my brother," I say, grabbing Fang's arm and I start pulling us away from the table.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Fang asks, an alarmed look on his face. "What happened?"

I'm about to answer when Amie jumps up from her chair and comes over to us. "Max, what's going on?" She says it loudly, causing other people around us to look alarmed. Gabe follows us as I pull Fang closer to the door, Amie following.

I stop and look at them, feeling the back of my neck getting sweaty from nervousness. "Look, it was nice to meet both of you, but something's happened and we need to get home as soon as possible. Stay in touch."

With that, Fang and I are out the door leaving Gabe and Amie confused, but I'm not really thinking about them right now.

"Max, tell me what's going on," Fang says seriously, pulling me around to face him.

"Fang, we need to leave. Iggy called me, something happened, and h-he sounded so . . . panicked. You don't even know."

I walk through the parking lot fast, Fang walking behind me, not saying anything.

Fang drives and I tell him what Iggy said, and he looks even worried than before, but he doesn't say anything. We go back to the hotel and get our stuff in a hurry, not really saying anything. I've calmed down a little but I still have this horrible feeling. I know something's very wrong.

When we get back in the car, the back fully loaded with our luggage, we're off.

* * *

Fang holds my hand the whole time we're driving there, knowing that on the inside, I'm freaking out. What could have possibly happened? What could make Iggy call me, crying? It couldn't be about Nudge. If they had broken up or something, most likely he wouldn't be calling me while I'm here and crying about it. We are close, but he wouldn't do that. That's just Iggy. But, it makes me wonder what really happened. Somebody's hurt. I know it.

"Hey, what's going on in there?" Fang asks, knocking on my temple lightly with our intertwined hands. His face is calm, but I can see the worry in his eyes. He's trying to be strong for me. Although this is sort of sweet, I'm not really thinking about this.

We're about two hours away from home, and the worry thoughts are getting to me. I shake my head at him. "What could be happening? It's making me so anxious."

"Just relax," Fang says, gripping my hand tighter. "Try not to think about it. Text Gabe and Amie to tell them we're okay or something."

I nod, taking out my phone and dialing Gabe's number. I tell him that we're okay and that we'll tell them what happened when we know something.

The rest of the drive goes by very slowly, me looking at the clock every few minutes. Fang tries and fails to calm me down, but I don't think anything can calm me down at this point. Basically, the whole drive is torture for us. Not knowing what's happening is unbearable.

When we finally get to Dallas, I'm nearly jumping in my seat. I call Iggy again, and he tells me to go to our house immediately. He's not crying, but he doesn't sound all that happy either.

When we get to the house, there are unfamiliar cars in the driveway. As soon as we get out of the car, Iggy all of the sudden runs out of the house, racing towards us. Fang and I exchange worried looks.

Iggy's eyes are teary as he grabs me in a huge hug.

My heart beat is wild and I sit there in the hug, bringing up the courage to say what I'm about to.

"Iggy!" I yell in his ear. "What the _hell_ happened?" This, for some reason, makes him grip me tighter and he started crying harder.

"M-max." He says in a broken, pitiful voice.

"W-what?" I ask, finally hugging him back.

He pulls back from the hug, tears running down his face. His face is twisted in a horrible depressed expression.

"T-there's been an accident."

"What?" I ask urgently. "What kind of accident?"

He tugs on my arm. "Maybe we should go inside for this." Fang is still standing a few feet behind us, an apprehensive look on his face.

"No, Iggy," I say sternly. "Tell me what happened. I've been waiting for five hours."

He looks unsure, but he nods uneasily. "M-mom was in a car accident."

My blood runs cold. My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest. "W-well what h-happened?" But I already know. The look on his face says it all.

"She didn't make it," he says, looking down at the cement. "She d-died at the scene."

I sit there, tears prickling in the back of my eyes. I'm frozen. My hands get clammy and I feel sweat build up on my forehead. Tears finally make a heavy flow down my cheeks. I'm staring straight ahead when I hear movement behind me.

Fang turns me around, grabbing my shoulders and bringing me towards him. He hugs me hard, and I put my head on his shoulder, bringing my arms to squeeze him back around his waist.

I'm in his arms when it finally hits. Mom is gone. The pain is unbearable. It's like a knife in my stomach. Right when we started to actually build up a relationship, this happens. And it pisses me off. My body starts to shake with quiet, frustrated sobs.

"Shh, it's okay," Fang says, stroking my hair, and I know he's just saying that. He knows it's not true. "It's going to be okay."

I cry harder onto his shoulder, soaking his shirt. But I'm not really thinking of that now.

We stand there for a few minutes, me trying to get all of my emotions in check, promising myself that I'll do that later tonight when I'm by myself.

Iggy taps Fang on the shoulder and Fang gently pulls me toward the front door, me clinging on to him. I take a deep breath and I try not to start sobbing again as I'm being pulled into my living room.

As we enter, I notice a lady sitting at one of our couches. She's really pretty and her face shows pure sympathy.

"Who are you?" I ask roughly, just wanting to be alone right now. I wipe the frustrated tears off my face and we pause in the doorway.

"Max," Iggy says from behind us with a broken voice. "This is a social worker from the state."

Oh, my God. I never even thought about this. Social workers are the people who take kids away from their homes and put them in foster care and stuff like that. Which is what is going to happen to Iggy and I. Fresh tears make their way to my eyes again, and I start to shake. Fang gives me a little squeeze.

The lady gets up from the couch and makes her way over to Fang and I, where we're still standing in the doorway, with a sad smile on her face. She holds out her hand for each of us to shake.

"Hi, I'm Margret. I'm going to be taking care of y'all." We shake her hand and she goes back to the couch and sits, waiting for us to sit across from her.

All three of us sit on the couch, me scrunched up between Fang and Iggy, each of them grabbing onto one of my hands tightly. Right now, though this isn't an all that fun time, I'm glad they're the ones that are here for me.

"So," I say, breaking the silence. Margret looks up and smiles at me. "What are you here for?"

She looks startled by the question, like she's kind of nervous. "Well… We need to know where your dad is."

Iggy and I look at each other, confused and then look at her, dumbfounded. "Uh, what makes you think we know?" I ask.

She gives a little nervous laugh. "Well he is your father. Shouldn't you know?"

"Our father abandoned us months ago," I say bluntly. She _does_ need to know.

She looks startled and she does this little fidgety skirt-smoothing thing. "And no one knows where he's at?"

I stare at her, rolling my eyes. "No." My mood seems to have changed from really depressed to super mad at everything. I think this whole thing is unfair. We have to deal with this social service lady and do God-knows-what else just because of my father.

"Okay kids, well the bottom line is that we're either going to have to find your father in the next five days, or you're going into foster care, since you have no other family to take care of you."

The information sinks in slowly. It was true, all of it. Our grandma passed away a few years ago, and my mom and dad were both an only child. With no family left, it's not like my mom had made a will yet. She's too young for that. We have nowhere to go. My body goes rigid next to Iggy and Fang.

Margret stands up from the couch and looks down at us with a compassionate expression. "I…know how hard this can be for you both. I'm going to come back tomorrow with all of the legal information, and we'll go from there. Now, I need a guardian that can watch you tonight, possibly a neighbor or a family friend…"

Fang speaks up for the first time tonight. "They can stay at my house, we live next door." I look up at Fang and he smiles a sad, supportive smile as he squeezes my hand.

Margret smiles and goes, "Excellent! I'll just need the guardian's consent."

We take her over to Fang's house and Fang's mom is devastated by the news, and she gets Iggy and I set up into their guest room.

Iggy and I pack up the stuff we need the most and we get settled into our room. Angel and Gazzy come in and they actually cheer us up a little bit, giving us hugs and talking to us about anything but what's happened.

That night, as I'm getting ready for bed, trying not to think about Mom, it suddenly hits me. Iggy and I are getting moved. Into foster care, most likely. Away from Fang. Away from everyone we know, all of our friends. We're going to have to leave our house and everything. We're going to be outsiders, recovering from a loss in some unknown town.

As I lay on my pillow, across from Iggy, the tears start flowing out of me. I can't believe that just almost twenty hours ago, I was jumping up and down with a new friend about winning a scholarship, and now I'm mourning the death of my mom.

A little whimper escapes from my mouth, and I try to act like I'm sleeping, but I feel Iggy turn my around do that I'm facing him. He has tears in his eyes too. Seeing this makes me even more emotional, and I start sobbing loudly onto him, and he pulls me into a hug. Thinking about how drastically my life has changed in one day, I think about the future and what it holds for us.

**Guys, I KNOW you will all be mad at me, I know. (I'm even mad at myself! I didn't even reread this to proof-read it, it was so depressing) All I ask is that_ I don't lose any readers _from this! Please know that I work really hard on this stuff and I have a plan for this story. This story is labeled under "drama", not "angst". Just keep that in mind, you guys. So please please do not unsubscribe to me after this chapter, it was really hard writing it. **

**But just to gather some reviews up, what do you think is going to happen? I want to know what you see coming! Review please! **

**(Please don't just leave the ones where you say that you wanna rip my head off or something! I beg of you, please no!)**

**~Peace out  
**


	28. Read the note, if you care

Okay, so I promised myself, going into this story, that I would never do an authors note, cause I find them highly annoying, but I wanted to update you guys. (The ones who are actually reading this) I've never been this busy before, like in my like. Seriously. It's crazy. In my history class, we have a quiz almost every two days and a test every week, so we have to study LOTS. Not to mention my other classes, and all of the stinking clubs I'm in. But just know that I'm not gonna be updating for a while, I'm not sure when I will, but I will definitely be writing every chance I get and I won't EVER give up on this story. Sorry about that, but I'm lucky I even have time to make THIS update. Alright guys, hope everyone's year is going good.

~Peace


	29. It's another note but Read Please :

Hey guys,

I know it's been SO long since I've uploaded, and don't think I've forgotten about this. I've just been SO busy and my computer currently has a virus that has just DESTROYED it. -_- But it's Thanksgiving Break this week so I will try and get a chapter up sometime this week! Well I have written about 2 paragraphs of the next chapter and do you guys want me to upload that now? Or wait until I have written the full chapter? I'll let you guys vote. I'll let you guys go for now, and here's just a reminder that I'm NOT going anywhere, k? Thanks for dealing with me :) Happy Thanksgiving!

~Peace :)


	30. The Story of Debra

**Hey guys, I am happy to say I managed to get a chapter up this week! Thank you guys so much for putting up with me and being so nice to me about it! And I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving(even if you don't live in the United States or Canada, I hope you had a great week! XD) So here's the new chapter:**

When I wake up the next morning, my nose is running and I have a huge headache. Yep, crying tends to do that to you. I gently get out of the covers, trying not to wake Iggy's sleeping form beside me, putting a hoody on over my t-shirt and keep my pajama pants.

I walk out of the bedroom and go to the dining room table, noticing there's no one awake besides me, so I lay my head on the table, wrapping my arms around my head. My night with Iggy was more than a little depressing, but I'm happy he was there for me, that we're there for each other. If I didn't have Iggy, I'd feel a lot more alone right now, even with Fang.

I wonder about what will happen to us. The social worker had said that we get five days till we have to go somewhere, unless they find our dad. What will happen if they _do _find him? Are there no laws against abandoning your family? There should be. When he left us, we were all devastated, even me, who didn't really have a good relationship with either of our parents.

Finding our dad is just too crazy of an idea to even consider though. If he's been able to stay hidden for this long, I'm sure he can do it for a while longer.

You know those cliché scenes where the girl is looking at the moon, wondering if her special someone, or whoever, was there, looking at the same moon and if they have some kind of "special connection" thing going on? Well I always thought those were just lame-ass movie scenes directors thought would make a cool hallmark moment happen or something.

But, for some reason, I find myself almost thinking of something like that. I find myself wondering where my dad is. What he's doing. If he's even thinking of us, of me, or perhaps my suddenly-dead mother. I mean, even if he's left, he'd _have_ to think of us _sometime_, right? Could anyone_ possibly_ leave their family and have no conscience about it, or not even think about their forgotten family members? I don't think so. But I know wherever he is, I know I shouldn't want to have anything to do with him, even though I do kind of have some curiosity in me. But when I have these negative thoughts about him, I also, deep down, hope that wherever he _is_, is somewhere safe.

Suddenly, I feel a soft pat on my shoulder, causing me to jump in my chair, I feel warm liquid on my cheeks. "Max." I look up, wiping my cheeks.

Fang's mom, Debra, in her long bath robe with her long hair pulled back, is looking down at me with an incredibly sad expression. Her eyes dart to the table where my head was laying, moving her hand back to her side. I look down, and there's a little puddle of tears on the table. My heart drops with surprise, and I get up to get a paper towel.

"Max," Debra says in a strangled voice, putting her hand back on my shoulder, holding me in place. "I'll get that." She starts walking to the kitchen cabinet.

I nod, avoiding eye contact, looking back to the small puddle on the table, wondering how in the world I started crying without even noticing. Fang's mom comes back in a matter of seconds, immediately wiping off the puddle on the table, and handing me a soft tissue. I give her a tiny smile of gratitude, which she returns and wipe my nose and eyes, thinking of how much of a wreck my face must be right now.

"Are you okay?" Debra asks, throwing away her trash and she starts washing a coffee pot.

"I'm fine. I'm just…stressing, you know?" I say, as I mindlessly start pulling the tissue apart, piece by piece.

She nods absently from her sink, seemingly in some other world.

"I . . .know what you mean, Max. Believe it or not, we might have more in common than we think." She starts putting some coffee in a filter, and adds some water to the coffee maker. I see her turn the switch to "on" and she comes to sit beside me at the table.

"What do you mean?" I ask, putting down my broken tissue and it's pieces. I can't help but think that it's a symbol for what Iggy and I are now. Broken, torn. Lonely. I feel my eyes fill heavily with tears, but I hold them back, and look at Fang's mom as she gently grabs my hands in a supportive way.

She looks at me in an assessing way, and goes, "When I was your age, my mom died."

I'm a little surprised, but I keep my face impassive, giving one of her hands a little squeeze.

She continues, "Now, from what I understand, you and your mom weren't very close, were you?"

I shake my head slightly. "No, not really. Not until a few months before. . .it happened." The tears threaten to come again, but I refuse to let it show.

Debra nods, saying, "Okay. Well I want you to know that my mother and I were very close my whole life. She was my best friend. It . . . Crushed me when she died. But I just want you to know; I got through it. This may _seem_ like the end of the world right now. But it's not. Listen to someone who's had the experience first-hand. Now, I'm not telling you that the pain will go away, because for me, it didn't. That . . . whole you feel in your heart right now, it won't go away. It'll just get smaller. But I just wanted you to know that if you or Iggy _ever_ need to talk, I'm here."

As I process this information, I hear the coffee pot buzzer go off, causing Debra to get up and walk over to the kitchen. I suddenly have so much more respect for her. Knowing that she went through that when she was my age gives me hope for us.

I hear a throat clearing noise from behind me, and I turn around to see the person that I need the most right now. Suddenly, the day is looking up.

**Yeah, I know its a super short chapter and stuff, but I had to cut it short cause it's 1 in the morning on a school night? I kind of have to get up in 4 hours... But I want to let you guys know that I'll be trying really hard to update sooner! And if it's a huge gap of time like it was the LAST time, (which i'll try not to let it be) just know that I'll never stop updating. I love this and you guys' support too much to not keep going with this story. So with that, review and tell me what you think of this chapter. **

**~Peace out**


	31. Shocker

**Hey everyone! Merry Christmas :) Consider this a present from me:**

Fang is at the doorway, fully clothed with a button-up black shirt with jeans. His hair is wet and he's wearing a gentle smile, making him look amazing. He walks over and puts his arm around me.

"Morning," he says, softly giving me a kiss on the cheek. I lean into him. "You okay?"

I smile slightly and nod.

Debra turns around from the coffee pot and smiles at Fang. "Morning, hon."

"Morning, mom. So what's up?" He looks at me, with a more gentle expression and snuggles me closer into his chest.

I shrug, looking at the counter with all the broken napkin pieces on it.

"The social worker is supposed to come back today," Debra says, walking to the sink. Ugh. I forgot about that social worker. Margret. The lady who's going to take my life away from me. Okay, I know I shouldn't think of it like that, that she's just doing her job, blah blah blah, but I just can't stop thinking of the fact that we might go somewhere else.

"I know," I say glumly, still looking at that napkin.

"it's gonna be fine," Fang says, grabbing my face and turning it towards him. He smiles and gives me a peck on the nose. I smile a little, sort of believing him.

I move away from his grip, and look at Debra, who's been watching this exchange with mild interest. She grabs a pan and starts washing it. Suddenly, my reflection appears on the pan and I almost gasp aloud. My face is all red and blotchy, not to mention my hair being a wreck. Hmm. Crying _does_ do this to you, doesn't it?

I get out of my chair away from Fang, and go, "Uh, I'm gonna go get dressed," and walk down the hallway.

I open me and Iggy's bedroom door and walk in, noticing that Iggy is sitting up in bed, staring at the floor. He doesn't look too great.

"What's up, Igs?" I say, sitting down next to him and grabbing his hand.

He stays still, but his hand grasps mine. "She's gone," he says.

Depression fills me, listening to those two words. Iggy was way closer to mom than I was. I can't believe that I was so selfish to not think of him in all of this.

I put my head on his shoulder and say, "I know. . . I can't believe it."

He nods slightly, while a tear slowly makes its way down his face.

"Iggy. I'm really sorry. You were way closer to mom than I was. You have to be feeling way worse than I am."

He shakes his head, finally looking at me. "She was a mom to both of us. We're both hurting."

I stay silent, and hug his bulky body.

* * *

After I get dressed properly, I sit in the living room with Fang and Iggy, watching some Pixar movie. They're usually really funny, but it doesn't really produce any laughs from Iggy. I'm really starting to worry about him.

About an hour later, the doorbell rings. My heart drops, and Iggy, Fang, and I all share looks. The social worker is here. Debra gets the door, giving us a hopeful look on the way to the front of the house.

Margret walks in with a little smile on her face, greeting each of us. "It's good to see you again," she says to me, gripping my hand in a firm handshake. I nod, sitting back down on the couch.

"Okay, guys, I have a lot of information for you, but first, I think y'all need to know something."

Iggy and I share a worried look while Fang grasps my hand. "What is it?" I ask, looking up at her.

"We know where your dad is."

**Sorry the chapter is so short! But if you wanna hear more from me or ask questions about me visit my blog at marseelee(.tumblr)* Feel free to follow me if you have a tumblr as well! I post something everyday. I'm going to try to make the blog more interesting, so at least give me a chance :)**

**~Peace :) And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! **

***My blog is at Tumblr with marseelee as the url. (Sorry, Fanfiction won't let me put in the link) **


	32. Each other

**Hey guys! Long time no see, right? Let me just say, I loved all the reviews from last chapter. Thanks so much for sticking with me through this story! Here's the next chapter:**

There's about ten seconds of complete silence while we all process this. Iggy is staring off into space, shocked as he'll ever be, and I don't really know what my face looks like but it can't be good, because Fang is looking at me with complete apprehension. Dad is…found?

I break the silence. "...What?"

Margret lets out a long breath and sits on the chair across from us. "We have found Jeb Ride. We haven't exactly been in contact with him yet, but yesterday, after I left your house, I did some research. It turns out, he wasn't that hard to find. He lives in Houston."

Fang squeezes my hand. I can't believe he's been living in Houston all this time. I was _just_ in Houston for the art convention! We could've driven right past his house, and I would've never known it. I mean, Houston _is_ one of the largest cities in the U.S., but it's possible.

My mind is racing with all kinds of different thoughts and possibilities, when Debra speaks from behind our couch.

"So what does all of this exactly _mean_?" she asks with some firmness in her voice. She actually sounds intimidating; it's almost as if she's protecting Iggy and I, which makes my heart swell.

Margret looks up at her, uneasily, and goes, "Well, essentially, we're going to have to send them to Houston with their dad."

Fang's hand suddenly get's a heck of a lot tighter on mine, and I don't blame him.

"Wait, what?" I practically shout, jumping up from the couch.

Iggy, regaining some emotion on his face, jumps up as well. "You're going to send us back to the guy that ran out on us? How is _that_ fair?" He says furiously. I'm vaguely aware that the atmosphere in the room has changed in a bad way, but I couldn't care less.

Margret raises her hands up defensively sinking a little lower into her chair, disturbed by our angry faces.

"Look. I don't want you kids to be mad at me for doing my job. All I know is that you have one choice. You can either go live with your dad in Houston, or you can be owned by the state as foster children. As foster children, there might be a slight chance you two could get separated."

"There has to be another way," Fang says, getting up from the couch to put his arm around me. "Can't they just stay with us until they're eighteen?"

I suddenly feel hopeful, thinking that would be reasonable. What's wrong with that, anyway? Fang's parents are perfectly good guardians to them.

Margret looks cheerless. "I'm sorry, but that's just not possible unless the Collins' parents become Foster Parents. That process takes lots of time and money. It just…can't happen. By the time they're eligible to adopt you two , it would most likely only be a few months until you turn eighteen. There would be no point to it. I'm very sorry about this."

All the hope drains from my body. Tears well up in my eyes. It's happening. This is really happening. I can't believe it. I shrink back into the couch, dejected. Fang looks back at me, his face full of emotion, and sits right next to me, letting me sink into him, laying my head on his chest. He rubs my arm soothingly. Iggy silently sits down next to us.

Margret sits a little higher in her chair. "Kids…this is the hardest part of my job. I'm afraid this has to happen. In the mean time, I'm going to get in contact with your dad. You guys can stay here a few more days; you should probably take this time to pack, unregister from school, and say your goodbyes. I know this is going to be really hard. But just know that I'm here for you if you need anything."

None of us answer her. She gathers her things, and heads to the front door. Fang's mom leads her, and I hear them exchange a "thank you" and an "I'll be back in a few days."

* * *

For the rest of that day, Fang, Iggy, and I take Angel and Gazzy to the park. It's a good distraction to us; little kids have a tendency to cheer you up even when they don't try.

A little while later that evening, Fang's mom comes into Iggy and I's room to talk to us about mom's funeral. She wants it to be before we leave for Houston. We plan it out to be in four days. Joy.

...

"Well, we really are screwed, aren't we?" Iggy says, in a joking way, when we're getting ready for bed that night. His mood has been up a little bit for some reason. You would think that he would be even more of a wreck now, but nope.

"…I'd say so." I say, playing along.

"Well, maybe not," I say a second later, thinking. I'm tired of being submerged in tears all the time lately. I think it's time to bring out my personality in this. I've always been the most positive one out of the both of us, and I don't think we could survive without a little encouragement.

He looks at me from across the bedroom, probably wondering what has gotten into me. "What do you mean?"

"Look, Bro." I throw myself on my bed, looking at him. "I've come to a realization. In order to survive this little adventure, we're going to have to be optimistic. Nothing can touch us. No one can get in our way. We can get through all of this, okay? I know it."

He looks unsure.

"Iggy," I say sternly, making him look at me, alarmed. "Listen to me. We're going to get through this. Yes, it's going to be hard, but at least we have each other, right?"

I reach over and grasp his hand in mine. I look at him and nod encouragingly. I even add a tiny smile. He nods a small nod, hopefully trying to feel the way I want us to.

**Thanks for reading! It means a lot! Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. (it was a little rough to write!)**

**Also, I've been thinking about starting a book blog. It would be me doing reviews on lots of different teen books, and maybe starting book chats and stuff like that. So if you were planning on reviewing, could you tell me if you would be interested in reading something like that? Thanks for the support guys :)**

**~Peace Out!**


	33. I'm annoying, I get it

Hey guys. I'm _really_ sorry this isn't a chapter, especially when I left it off the way I did. But I just wanted to tell you guys that even though it's Spring Break for me, I might not be submitting another chapter for a few days. I've just been feeling really detached from my story lately. I don't have that emotional attachment with the characters right now, and I figured, the only way to cure that is to reread the whole story. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think it's the only way to motivate me to continue writing this story. And believe me, I want to continue, but I also want to enjoy it. Writing is supposed to be the way I release my emotions, and if I feel pressured to do it, I might not enjoy it. So, after I read the entire story again (which may or may not be painful), I will be back to writing my next chapter! Thank you so much for reading my story you guys.

Okay, I hope I'm really not annoying y'all with this, but if you want to follow my personal blog, it's on Tumblr . com slash marseelee (Like I said, fanfiction does not allow me to put links on here)

I hope everyone's having a great week, and I would just like to remind people to keep thinking about the victims of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Please keep them in your prayers.

~**Peace**


	34. The Funeral

**Hey guys! As you can see, I have fully read my entire story over again, and even though I was appalled at some chapters, I got through it, and I finally got motivated to write more! :) I was so excited to get that motivation back, and even though the story is at a pretty depressing part right now, I'm excited for the upcoming chapters. So, enough of this talk. Read. :D**

"This . . . can't be happening."

I watch as Nudge grabs a tissue from her coffee table, wiping her spilling tears away. Iggy, Fang, and I are at Nudge's house, telling her about us moving to Houston. Originally, we were going to tell everyone all at once, but Iggy insisted we tell Nudge alone, which makes more sense. This will probably be hardest for her.

Iggy gently grabs her in a hug on the couch they're sitting on, and squeezes her, as she cries. His eyes are red, and I can see tears threatening to spill over.

My heart is breaking. It's almost as if my physical being is literally hurting.

Fang gives me a little squeeze, and I realize I'm shaking. In the back of my mind, I realize I'm supposed to be trying my new "positivity motto", but right now, I can't concentrate on it.

"I don't get it. Why does this have to happen?" Nudge murmurs from Iggy's embrace.

My voice is shaky. "N-nudge…You know why. Didn't you suspect it at least when we found out our mom died?"

She pulls away from Iggy and looks at me, her eyes glossy with tears. "I did, but I tried to deny it. I just couldn't imagine losing you two." She looks at me. "Max. You're my best friend." Her voice hitches on the last word.

I get up from the couch Fang and I are on, and I give her a huge hug. "I know, girl," I whisper. "And I love you." I stand up straight, bringing her up with me. "But this isn't the end, okay? We're just moving. We can talk all the time. Facebook, Instant Messaging, E-mail. Come on, we're lucky we live in this century." I smile.

She smiles a fraction, wiping her tears clean. "Yeah," she whispers. "I guess you're right."

Fang and I leave Iggy and Nudge alone while they work out relationship issues. As I think of that, my stomach knots up and I get a nervous pain there. I'm still worried about Fang and I's relationship. I squelch the thought, and push it to the back of my mind; I'll save that for when the time comes.

We spend the next hour telling the rest of our group of friends what's going on. J.J. and Ella immediately start crying and hugging me, making me feel oddly guilty and depressed at the same time. Ian and Kevin are most upset about Iggy, having been better friends with him, but they both show their condolences.

We got word from Margret, the social worker, that we're leaving in three days. It's a little longer than we thought, and that's good,_ but_ there is the part that we're moving 300 miles away from where we've been living our whole _lives_. Yeah. Just that.

Now, Mom's funeral is in a few hours, which makes me nervous. I'm not sure how many people are going to show up, besides my friends, but they're probably just her coworkers, which don't interest me at all. I don't even know these people. But, I'll just have to deal with it and try to get through the rest of this day.

I dress in a black blouse and some jeans, remembering the last conversation I had with my mom, nearly 3 days ago. She had said she loved me. I feel somehow satisfied, thinking of that; not because she's gone, but because I actually got to hear her say it to me before this. I smile sadly at the memory, tears in my eyes, wondering how different the situation might have been if we never made up.

Strangely, I'm almost thankful that the kidnapping happened to me, almost two months ago. If it hadn't happened, my mother and I wouldn't have made up, Sam would still be out there, probably still harassing me, and Bridget would still be in an abusive relationship with him. I don't think I've realized it till now, but I might actually be thankful for it, as crazy as that sounds.

When I'm done getting dressed and my hair's fixed, I walk to Fang's living room and sit on the couch next to Iggy. He's sitting with his head down, a miserable expression on his face, and I take his hand, squeezing it. Fang is there, sitting in the chair across from the couch, and I see him with a worried face, shaking his head at me. Uh oh. He must have had a really hard time saying goodbye to Nudge.

"What's up, Igs?" I ask gently. He looks at me with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Nothing," he says gruffly. He turns away from me on the couch.

I sigh. "Iggy, I know what you're going through. It's going to be okay." I try to grab his arm and twist him back to facing me, but he just shrugs me off.

He looks pissed. "Look," he says sharply. "I don't need any of your little pep talks right now. It's not going to help."

He gets up from the couch, and walks swiftly to our room, slamming the door shut. I stare at the empty couch space, taken aback. I guess I just wasn't expecting him to take emotion out on me like that.

Fang's body suddenly appears in that empty space, taking my hands.

"I somehow knew that wouldn't end well…" he says, while settling me down so that I'm leaning on him.

I sigh, nodding, only slightly insulted. "Yeah I guess his emotions are just all out of whack because of Nudge. And the fact that Mom's funeral is in an hour."

I see him shake his head, saddened. "Max, just promise me one thing."

I look up at him hesitantly and go,"What's that?"

"Just…don't lose your mind over there, okay? I can see Iggy is already being affected. I'm just worried about you guys."

"I know," I say. "I'm worried too."

* * *

Funerals. The epitome of all things fun. Yeah, because all the black wear, the caskets, and crying people just _scream_ joy.

Okay, not so much. Funerals are actually one of the most hated things in my book. Of course, I've only been to about three in my lifetime, but just the feel of the place gives you a lasting depressed feeling.

Iggy and I are sitting with our friends in the tiny chapel of the funeral home. Iggy still hasn't said anything to me since he snapped at me earlier, which worries me to no end; we're going to need each other in a few days.

The chapel is fairly crowded, which surprises me a little. The only other people I know here are Fang's parents and our neighbors, the one's on the side opposite of Fang. Everyone else is from her work, I guess. It kind of makes me proud, though, that such a loved woman is my mother. Was. My eyes fill up with tears at that thought.

I feel a hand squeeze mine, and I look up, expecting to see Fang, but instead I see Iggy looking down at me, a grim expression on his face. He isn't crying, but he seems like he might at any moment. Nudge is latched onto his arm on his left and she's looking at me with a worried expression. I give her a reassuring smile to assure her I'm fine, but it comes out as a grimace, obviously not convincing her.

The funeral goes by in a blur. Fang holds my hand the whole time, but it's really gloomy, and the entire time, I just want to leave. The atmospheres in funerals are just too much for me to bear.

When the horrid even is finally over, I just want to get the heck to bed, and be done with the day, but Nudge, Ella, and J.J. come over to me before Iggy and I can get into Fang's car.

"Hey, Max," Nudge says gently, but with a smile on her face. J.J. and Ella are sort of grinning behind her, too. I wonder what they're thinking.

We stop in the parking lot and I look up at her with mild curiosity. "What?"

"Well . . . we were kind of wondering if you wanted to come over to my house for a last sleepover with the girls? Then tomorrow, our group of friends can have like a big fun day before you guys leave. I think it'll be fun!"

I do think it's a good idea, and I think it would help our gloomy moods, but I'm a little worried about Iggy being alone tonight. I look up at him, conflicted.

He gives me a reassuring grin and says, "You go and have fun. I'll be fine. _Fang_ and I will have a sleepover!" He says with an overly-excited girl voice.

Fang looks mildly surprised, but quickly recovers and runs up behind Iggy throwing an arm around him in a bro-hug. "Yeah, we will!" He matches Iggy's voice.

We all crack up, even Iggy and I, and that's when I realize that Iggy and I are actually going to recover from this.

**And that's it for today, folks. Please review and tell me what you think. **

**~Peace**


	35. Funny Business

**Hey guys, I want to thank you so much for your reviews. I know I say that ever chapter, but it's true. They make me feel so good! So here's the next one!**

"Oh, my God, he is _so_ hot there!"

"What? No he isn't! You're crazy!" I roll my eyes at J.J. as Ella and Nudge look over a magazine filled with pictures of Justin Bieber. This has been going on for about fifteen minutes as they go through a _Seventeen_ magazine. We're at Nudge's house, having a sleepover, and it seems it's already getting me in a good mood.

"Okay, can we just agree on something? Justin Bieber looks twelve, and Nudge is a pedophile for saying he's hot." I say, my voice filled with humor.

Laughter irrupts from all of us except Nudge, who just sits there pouting, her magazine clenched in her hands.

"Max!" J.J. shouts, trying to keep a straight face. "Don't say that about Justin Bieber! Leave _her_ alone!"

Another round of laughter explodes from all of us, even Nudge cracking a grin. She throws her pillow at J.J., letting a laugh escape when J.J. catches it.

"Alright, alright," Ella says, waving her arms to get our attention. "Let's do something else before Nudge has a panic attack."

I snort while the others calm down, sitting in a little circle beside Nudge's bed.

"Oooh, Ooh, I have an idea!" Nudge says, her excited mood back. "Let's play Truth or Dare!"

J.J., Ella, and I groan in unison at the thought of being in one of those clichéd sleepover scenes.

"Come on, guys, who cares?" she reasons. "It's not like anyone's watching. And I want this to be fun!" She gives us her begging face. The one she knows I can't resist.

I sigh and roll my eyes, but go, "Okay, okay, fine, Nudge, but only for you." I smile at her.

J.J. and Ella finally agree, and we start the game.

Nudge picks on Ella. "Truth or dare?" She has a mischievous look on her face.

Ella looks nervous, and goes, "Hmm. . . Truth." We all roll our eyes, knowing that Ella's too scared to pick dare.

"Okay," Nudge goes, looking up thoughtfully. "When are you and Ian _finally_ going to get together?"

J.J. and I lean in closer, interested in her answer. We've been waiting on them to get together for months.

Her face gets red, and she looks down at her hands, sighing. "I don't know…" She trails off, and I roll my eyes.

"Ella," I say with my "no crap" tone. "You need to make this happen already! Ian is too shy to do it on his own, and we all know that you guys like each other."

Ella looks startled, while Nudge is nodding beside her.

"It's true. This isn't the eighteenth century! If Ian doesn't have the balls to ask you out, you ask him. Take a stand!" We laugh and Nudge and I high-five.

Ella smirks, and looks at me uncertainly.

I give her a warning look and go, "No really, Ella. If there's one thing I want to happen before I leave, it's for you guys to finally get together."

We all sober up at the mention of me leaving, and I quickly try to keep the game going. "Nudge! Truth or Dare?"

Immediately without hesitation, she responds with, "Dare!"

I smirk at her, forming a dare in my head. "Okay, go get your phone."

She grins, already knowing what I'm going to say, and grabs her phone from beside her bed.

"Okay, you're going to prank call Iggy." I whisper the rest of the prank in her ear so Ella and J.J. will be surprised.

Nudge struggles to keep her laughter in while she dials Iggy's number, careful to press star sixty seven to keep her identity confidential.

She holds the phone up to her ear, and waits a few seconds until she answers in the deepest voice a girl could make. "Hey, sexy."

We all burst out laughing, but quickly cover our mouths, letting Nudge continue. I get right up to Nudge's phone next to her to listen to what Iggy says.

"Uh, what?" I hear his sleepy, confused voice say.

"Are you gonna come over here?" Nudge continues in her darkest voice. It's actually believable.

I hear a tired sigh and a muffled, "huh?"

"You heard me. Come over here and give it to me, _whore_." I have to jump away from the phone so my laughter can't be heard.

"What the f—" Is the last thing I hear before Nudge hangs up the phone. We're all in hysterics. I'm literally rolling on the ground, my stomach hurting from laughing so hard.

"Oh, my God. That was just . . . priceless." Ella says, tears running down her eyes.

Nudge smirks at all of us, quickly recovering. "Okay, Max, now it's your turn."

I get my last laughs out before I get back into the formation of our circle. "Okay, how about truth?"

She nods, and goes, "I have the perfect one for you. I've been waiting to ask this for a long time: Have you and Fang gone all the way yet?"

Ella squeals, and J.J. just giggles but leans in closer like she wants to know so badly. My ears and face get red. That's maybe a little too personal of a question for me, but I know they won't stop asking if I don't answer now.

I sigh, defeated, and answer regretfully. "No." J.J. actually looks surprised, and Ella and Nudge nod.

"Why not?" They ask in unison.

I look at them, startled, and answer, "Just because. . . I don't know. I'm just not ready."

"Oh. . ." Nudge says, looking down, thoughtful. "Well, what about now? I mean, you're moving away. . ."

If it were anybody else who said that, I would be mad, but since it was Nudge, I let it slide. I kind of get what she's talking about. I mean, this might be the last time I see Fang in a very long time; it's not like I haven't thought of taking that big step to finally get as close as I can to him. But, somehow, that just doesn't seem right to me.

"I wouldn't feel right doing that," I say, looking at the ground. "It would be like I wanted to have sex with him just because I'm leaving; not that I'm actually ready to do it."

My three best friends nod understandingly.

"Yeah," Nudge says. "I get what you mean. But I mean . . . aren't you going to miss him so much? I know I can barely think about Iggy right now. Have you two even said goodbye yet?"

My stomach lurches at the thought of saying goodbye to Fang, but I try to ignore it. "We haven't really gotten around to it. I guess we don't want to think about it until the day I actually leave. And of course I'm going to miss him. More than ever." My voice grows depressed by the time I'm done.

J.J. puts a hand on my shoulder comfortingly and I smile at her, making myself forget all the horrible thoughts about my moving.

"Okay, back to the game! J.J.! Truth or Dare?"

* * *

"Max-ieeeee!" is the first thing I hear the next morning. I groan, feeling groggy and dead tired. We had to have gone to bed at four at the earliest.

I tug Nudge's pillow closer to my head, clutching it, until it's violently ripped from my hands. Nudge's face appears in my line of vision with a giant grin that shows all of her teeth. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"

"Ugh…what time is it?" I groan, swiping the hair away from my eyes.

"Eight! Just in time for us to make the opening of Six Flags!" My eyes open a little wider at that, and I get the strength to sit up. This day could be pretty fun.

Ella's already up, gathering her things in her backpack, while J.J. is looking super tired, struggling to drag herself to the restroom. I smirk at her.

Nudge grabs my hands and pulls me up from the floor fast, making my world spin for a second.

I sit down on the bed and begin gathering my clothes to wear. I end up settling on a fitted cotton Beatles t-shirt with some capris, and my black converse.

When we're all done getting ready, we go outside to meet the guys. They're in the Ian's Expedition, bored expressions laced on their faces, put they quickly light up when we get inside. I curl up next to Fang and Iggy in the back seat, my mind actually filled with excited thoughts for the first time in a week.

**Tell me if you liked it in a review. I always take constructive criticism as well! Thanks guys :) **

**~Peace**


	36. Funny Business II

**What's up guys? Okay, I have failed to mention the time in my story, which is pretty careless of me. But, the current time in this chapter is in March. I'm sorry for leaving that out, it's pretty ridiculous that I could forget that. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please review afterwards! I want to know what you're thinking about the story, and I need some feedback :)**

"Oh. My. God." I stare at a giant rollercoaster featuring three loops, a giant drop, and mysterious tunnels all throughout the ride. I feel my adrenaline kick in, just at the excitement of looking at this giant hunk of thrilling metal. "We must go on this."

We're at Six Flags Over Texas, having a last group get together. Everyone pitched in for me and Iggy's tickets, knowing we couldn't afford something like this now. We just got here, and it turns out this place is my dream. Jeb had taken us here when we were little, but I don't remember much of it. I probably didn't like huge roller coasters when I was little, anyway. But now, it's different. One of the biggest thrills to me is being on a roller coaster, and I'm not afraid of heights, unlike three of my friends over here, who are practically shaking in their boots, looking at the roller coaster, BATMAN. Cool name, huh?

Iggy, Fang, Nudge, Kevin, and I look over at J.J., Ella, and Ian, smirking. "Can't handle it?" I ask teasingly, starting to walk over to the giant ride, Fang and Iggy in tow.

The three scared teenagers ignore me, still staring at BATMAN, when Nudge and Kevin start trying to pull them into line with us. Even I can see it's a lost cause, but we wait at the entrance anyway.

Ian and Ella are stuck together like glue, in a way to keep them from being pulled away from their spot. Nudge is trying to drag them over here by their shirts, screaming, "_WIMPS!" _But it seems their plan has worked. They stay planted in place, until Iggy yells in a joking voice, "Aw, look at the pretty lovers! Just so damn _cute_." Fang chuckles and I laugh.

This causes them to jump away from each other awkwardly, and Nudge successfully drags Ella over to us with a giant grin on her face. Ian has no choice but to follow, him mumbling, "I can do this. I'm a man. I'm a man." I roll my eyes at him. He grows a smirk on his face, but quickly goes back to mumbling to himself.

Kevin has already gotten J.J. over with us, and we all walk to the humongous line going up about two stories' worth with ramps and stairs. I groan inwardly, and lean against the railing of the ramp we're on, noticing a near-by sign that says "You're 45 minutes away from the fun!" Fantastic.

About 30 minutes later, we're getting strapped into our seats, all coupled up. I'm practically jumping with joy, a giant grin on my face when Fang smirks down at me.

"Hey, don't make fun! You know you're just excited as I am, only on the _inside_." I say playfully, lightly punching him in the arm.

He shrugs, and his smirk turns into a nice grin that's always rare for him. My heart skips a beat, and he grabs my hand, winking at me. Typical.

Suddenly, I'm yanked backward into my seat, as the rollercoaster starts. We start going up the huge ride, the tracks making a _clank_ noise every second. We continue on the rollercoaster through the loops, tunnels, and twists, and I hear all the girls behind me scream; I'm actually completely silent on a rollercoaster. When we're done, all of our hair is disheveled, but it's completely worth it in my book. This is just my kind of fun.

* * *

The day goes by unfortunately quickly, but it's about the most fun I've had in years. Tonight, Fang and I have decided to go on a last date. I'm a little nervous, to be honest, but I mean who wouldn't be? It's one of the last days I'll see my boyfriend in God knows how long.

At six, we head out, hand in hand, to my nature spot in our neighborhood, the place we had our first date. I haven't been here in a few months; I mentally scold myself. The place is as beautiful as ever. The beautiful stream is running through the meadow, just like before, and there's still that huge rock Fang and I sat on, only now it's strung with weeds and vines. I can't believe I let this place be forgotten when I'm not going to see it ever again.

"Hey, you okay?" Fang squeezes my hand. I didn't notice that I had been standing there with a frown on my face.

I nod, trying to give him a smile, but only succeeding half-way. He tugs me forward to the stone, lugging off all the vines, and lies on it, pulling me beside him so we're looking up at the sky.

Fang scoots over so that we're side by side, our arms touching. "It's gonna be okay," he murmurs. He sounds sure of himself.

I look over at him, a slight frown on my face. "How can you be so sure?"

"I just know."He says, and I give him a hard look, and roll my eyes.

"What? I'll manage. I have Ian, Nudge, and the others to keep me occupied. You're a strong girl. You can handle it. Plus, you have Iggy. You have each other."

I smile a little, but I go, "I won't have _you_."

He frowns. "I'm just a text or a phone call away."

I snuggle closer. "But it won't be the same," I pout.

He sighs and puts his right arm around my shoulders. "I don't think anything will," he whispers. "But like I said, we'll get through it. It's . . . just another chapter in your life. Think of it as an adventure."

I sigh, knowing that he's right. I look over at him, a smile on my face. I raise myself up on my left elbow, and go, "How do you always know what to say?"

He faces across from me, a cute smirk on his face. "I'm just that good."

I roll my eyes and lean over to kiss him. It starts off as a slow, sweet kiss, but then I think we remember that it's our last date, and it suddenly turns urgent. I quickly scoot over so that I'm on top of him, my knees beside either side of his waist. He has his hands on my back, and we're really getting into it when I have to pull back, due to lack of air. After I gasp a few breaths, he's pulling me back toward him, kissing me again. I feel him shift upwards, and we're both sitting up on the rock.

His hands reach under my shirt and he begins to lift it up. I suddenly realize that Fang might have the wrong idea about tonight. I pull away from the long kiss, and grab his hands.

"Wait, Fang." I say, looking down at my lap. "I know it's our last date together and everything, but I'm just not ready for this, okay?" I look up at him, and I'm thankful to see he's not mad.

"I get it, Max. It's fine." He looks a bit disappointed, but he leans over and kisses my cheek to give me reassurance.

We spend the rest of our date talking about everything but the moving situation, and we just enjoy each others' company for the last time, side by side again on our little rock. I get a little depressed thinking about leaving him, but again, I just ignore it, pushing it to the back of my mind. Yep, because that's _always_ a good thing to do you're your emotions. Mhm.

After about three hours, we head out back to Fang's house, but I admit that I have to look at the beautiful hideaway for myself all these years. The wind blows through the scenery, making the branches on the trees wave, as if they're posing a goodbye. I'm really going to miss this place.

We walk back to his house slowly and silently, basically glued together the entire walk. When we finally get to his front door, we kiss and give each other a big hug. This really does feel like the final goodbye.

When we walk inside the house, Iggy is right at the door, looking at me frantically, yelling out, "_FINALLY!_" He doesn't say it in a joking way, so I step away from Fang, worried a little.

"What . . . ?" I say hesitantly.

He shakes his head saying, "I don't know. She wouldn't tell me." He points an accusing finger at Debra, who's looking very worried, watching this entire exchange by the kitchen.

I step forward, saying exasperatedly, "Good God, what the hell could it be _now_?"

I can tell she's nervous by the look on her face as she moves forward. "I think you need to sit down for thi—"

"No, Debra, just spit it out; I'm sure we can handle this." I didn't mean to be rude, but this anticipation was killing me.

She nods understandingly, and lets out a long breath before saying, "Jeb has been living with another family. Him and another woman has three kids, all of them his."

Just when you think your life couldn't get more insane.

**A/N: I don't think my writing was up to par on this chapter, but after school ends(in about 2 weeks), I'll be working hard on these chapters :)**

**So what did you guys think? Were you expecting that? _Please_ tell me in a review! By the way, I'm thinking about becoming a Beta reader for the summer. If anyone is interested in letting me revise/edit their story for that, tell me, because it'll make me more motivated :)**

** Much love. ~Peace**

**P.S. Sorry for all of my chapters being so short! I'll make them longer when I have the time I need to spend on this story!**


	37. ImportantHelp me!

**Hey guys! I'm super _duper_ sorry for not updating lately when I told you I would! I am currently in the middle of writing the next chapter right now. _But._ I have a little dilemma going on right now. The next few chapters/the rest of this story is going to be a completely different vibe and/or genre from what it is now. I'm really thinking I need to make it a sequel. Now don't worry because this will not affect the rate at which I will publish it, because when I'm done writing the chapter, it'll be up in no time. So I'm just thinking, should I make this a sequel? I'm going to make a poll on my profile. Please vote. Btw, you might want to add me to "follow author" list in case I make the sequel.**

**ALSO: I need some help with my current summary for this story. Right now it just says "Max has a not so great life but it changes when she meets the new student Fang and his family. Its been done so many times, but it will be different, I promise. Major Fax. Rated T for language and violence. All Human."**

**It sucks. Simple as that. Can somebody please help me change that summary into something that will make people interested in reading? I would really like it if it could include something about "ex boyfriend Sam". Please _please _help me you guys!**

**Thank you so much! I hope everyone's having a great Summer.**

**~Peace**

**P.S. The poll is now up! Go and vote please!**

**P.S.S. I am now a Beta reader! If you want me to revise/edit your story, PM me.**


	38. Info for sequel

**Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I've made a sequel for this story and I have the first 2 chapters up. The first chapter is something you guys have already read, because I wanted to start off the new story with that chapter, but the second chapter is brand new! Go read it if you don't have me on your authors list.**

**It's called:**

**New Beginnings 2: Suspicions**

**Go read! :) Btw, thank you so much to every person that has reviewed, or contributed to this story. Thank you so much for all the support guys!**

**~Peace**


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